The Horse Shoe Bush School
- Greg Austen
- Sep 6, 2019
- 5 min read
The Horse Shoe Bush School was built thanks to the efforts of Charles and Alice Hardy. They were keen to improve the schooling options for children of families located in and near the area known as the Horse Shoe Bush.
For many years the only school in the vicinity of the Horse Shoe Bush was the Pukeatua School located in Dairy Flat. In 1890 Charles and Alice provided a building on their land for the opening of a school specifically for the children of the Horse Shoe Bush.
The NZ Herald reported on the opening of this school on 11th July 1890 as follows;
"The new school at Horse Shoe Bush was opened on Monday , the 7th inst., in a house belonging to Mr Charles Hardy, which has been placed by him at the disposal of the Board of Education. The new school is to be held half-time with the Dairy Flat School. There were 21 children present, who at the request of Mrs Hardy were dismissed by the master, Mr Hammond, at an early hour in the afternoon, when they were regaled with cakes, sweetmeats, tea, and cocoa. It is expected that a large number of children will attend this school, as it is within reach of many who were previously from four to ten miles distant from any school. Mr Hardy gives those children coming on horseback paddock accommodation free of charge, which is quite a boon to those coming a long distance. "
An account written by the teacher Thomas Hammond tells us the following about the house donated by the Charles and Alice.
"... It was a one room building about 14 feet long by 12 feet wide built of split palings with a paling roof and had been used as a room for storing gum. It had a couple of smaller windows in one side, windows that had to be kept open with pieces of wood. It held two rows of desks and could accommodate about 24 children. On a summer day black bugs (Maori Bugs) would drop from the paling roof to floor and when crushed make a rather offensive smell. There was no playground. The ground nearby had many kauri stumps still standing where the trees had been felled years before."
The initial children attending this school included the Hardy girls, namely Florence aged 14, Alice aged 12 , Ada aged 10 and Helena (Nelly) aged 6. The ages of the Hardy boys in 1890 were Charles 24, George 22 and Frederick 17.
Photographs of the Hardy girls
I do not know the ages of the girls in the photographs below or whether they appear in the above photo. You may wish to compare the children and make your own conclusions.
The development of a purpose built Horse Shoe Bush Schoolhouse
Charles and Alice were keen to further improve the school in the Horse Shoe Bush with the construction of a proper school house. This was to take several years of lobbying of the Education Board.
On 24 July 1891 Charles Hardy wrote to the Board of Education as follows:
I have the honour to inform you that a meeting of the Pukeatua School Committee was held yesterday at which it was unanimously resolved to request your Board to erect, as soon as convenient, a suitable School House for the Horse Shoe Bush and surrounding neighbourhood.
Should you entertain this request I am willing to deed an acre of land on which to erect the House on lot 40 Parish of Pukeatua and which land is situated in what is regarded a more central locality for the school purpose than is the House at present used as a School House.
The average attendance at this school for the year ended June 30th 1891 has been 18.5, and but for determined opposition which would naturally expire were the school placed on a permanent foundation the average attendance would probably reach 30. In any case it is almost certain to be higher for the next year as 3 families have lately come to the district.
I am informed that a building answering well with the required purpose could be erected for the sum of 60 pounds. I think it will not require any lengthened argument to convince you that the money would be judiciously and equitably expended.
I am Sir,
Your Obedient Servant
Charles Hardy
A long and frustrating period of time elapsed before the Education Board accepted the offer of land from Charles and Alice and proceeded to build the Horse Shoe Bush School. The school finally opened on 18th May 1893.
Shortly before the opening Alice wrote the letter below to the Education Board.
The letter reads as follows;
Sir,
Would it be consential for the committee to remove the School Furniture from my building next week, as the new School is now built. My son intends starting as a Saddler in my building and he is now wanting to put his Leather and tools in it.
Yours Respectfully,
Alice Hardy
The opening of the new School was reported in the New Zealand Herald of 18th May as follows;
The new school house at Horseshoe Bush, near Dairy Flat, was taken possession of by the Pukeatua school committee on Tuesday last, by authority of the Board of Education. This elegant building, which stands on one of the loftiest hills in the neighbourhood, the Pukeatua (Hill of God) , of Maori legend commands a splendid view of the surrounding country, and is itself a beautiful and conspicuous object for many miles around. It is in size 24 feet in length by 16 feet in width, extremely lofty, well ventilated, is built of the best heart of kauri, and has been finished in the most workmanlike manner under the able supervision of Mr W.G. Smith, contractor, Ponsonby. It was intended to celebrate the opening by a picnic, but on account of the continuous wet weather it has been decided to postpone this festive event until Arbour Day, and thus to combine amusement with practical utility, by way of permanently ornamenting the school grounds with young trees of various descriptions.
The new school house met the needs of the children of the Horse Shoe Bush for many years. However in due course the land having been cleared of timber and the gum fields closed, the population of school children in the area was greatly reduced and the school fell into disuse. The area of Waitoki had grown and in 1923 it was decided that to meed the needs of 23 children in that area the Horse Shoe Bush School should be relocated to Waitoki. It remained in use for many more years but as additional buildings were added to the Waitoki school the old Horse Shoe Bush school house again fell out of use and in due course was demolished.
The land deed
Charles inserted a clever provision in the deed granting use of the land to the Education Board. He subdivided a portion of his land holding into a specific lot which was held in Alice Hardy's name. The deed granting use of this land to the Education Board provided that in the event the said land was no longer used as a site for a school for a period of 2 years then the land was to revert to Mrs Hardy and her assigns.
Alice died on 5th November 1934. She had not made any approaches to the Education Board for the return of her land despite it no longer being in use for a school. The site remained in the possession of the Education Board. In 1936 the Board sought advice on whether it could sell the land in question and was advised that this was not permitted given the provision for reversion to Mrs Hardy or her assigns. In August of 1953 the Ministry of Works initiated a process for reversion of the land in question to the Crown.
The spelling of Horse Shoe Bush.
In his letters Charles Hardy always wrote Horse Shoe Bush. To show due respect to Charles I have adopted this in most of the above commentary. Articles in the NZ Herald and many other documents use the alternatives of Horseshoe Bush or Horse-Shoe Bush.
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