Manutahi is a township and district inland of Waitara, which is now known as Lepperton. There is also a rural community of Manutahi in south Taranaki.
Manutahi Road runs for seven kilometres from Henwood Road, Bell Block, to Kelly Road, Huirangi.
Manutahi (Lepperton) was once a traditional gathering area for Māori of aka (forest vines), which were used as lashings for the palisades of pā and for hīnaki (eel traps).
Around 1760, Manutahi was the site of a fierce battle between Te Ātiawa and Taranaki iwi. This incident is known as Ra-ka-taha - "the descending sun" - as the fighting ended at sunset.
It appears that there were two pā called Manutahi in the district. The first was a kāinga (village), where Lepperton township is today. The second, where the railway junction used to be, was a fortified pā, built to defend the area during the Taranaki Wars. It was attacked and taken by British forces on 8 September 1864.
On 30 January 1865, land south of Waitara and west of the river, including Manutahi, was proclaimed confiscated land and Manutahi was declared a military settlement. The Crown allocated grants of land to soldiers, including Colonel Maxwell Lepper, formerly of the 14th Regiment and Taranaki Military Settlers, whose name was eventually given to the district.
S. Percy Smith surveyed the Manutahi township of 20 hectares into 2000 square metre sections, a cemetery, and several reserves.
This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.
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