6 Aubrey Street (circa 1850s-60s - 2021)

This cottage may have formed part of the 65th Regiment Quarters during the Taranaki Wars and is thought to date from the 1850s-1860s. 

Originally the cottage was clad in vertical board and batten typical of many early New Plymouth buildings and had two twelve-light double-hung sash windows at the front - the building has later been clad in fibrolite.

It is likely the building's roof pitch/height has been altered at some stage. It appears the original section of this cottage is the rear section. The rear section is of similar dimensions to the original front section of 4 Aubrey Street and retains an internal ceiling profile characteristic of other early cottages - the front section thus appears to be an addition.

Puke Ariki holds an undated photograph (above) showing 4 and 6 Aubrey Street, thought to date from the middle decades of the twentieth century - the cottage still retains its board and batten cladding and original windows at this stage.

Skinner's 1880 plan of New Plymouth shows four buildings of a similar size across the front of Town Sections 192 and 191 - it is thought that all four cottages were part of the 65th Regiment Quarters, with those on Town Section 191 since demolished, likely in the 1920s or 1930s given the age of the homes currently occupying Town Section 191.

Related documents and plan:

Archaeological Investigation Final Report 6 Aubrey Street, HNZPT Authority 2022/584, Hamish Crimp & Ivan Bruce (May 2023) 

Town Section 192, Taranaki Land Deed Index I1 page 197.

Taranaki DP1802 Sheet 1 Aubrey Street, ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)