The Elms | Te Papa Tauranga — Attraction in North Island

My husband and I visited the Elms Mission while visiting the Tauranga area on the north island of New Zealand, and found it extremely interesting.

Our tour guide was excellent, very knowledgeable and personable, and able to answer all of our questions.

The Elms Mission was founded by the Anglican missionary, Alfred Brown, & his first wife, Charlotte, in 1838. Brown learned the local Maori language (impressive) and preached the Christian message to Maori throughout the Bay of Plenty, often walking over rough tracks to remote settlements. He converted many Maori to the Christian faith. However, the battle of Gate Pa on April 21, 1864 (battle between the Maori and the English imperial troops) forever changed this as British soldiers were given land previously occupied by the Maori people. As the Maori were forced to abandon their ancestral lands, the work of the Te Papa Elms Mission Station declined. Brown and his second wife, Christina, purchased the mission and some surrounding land in 1873. Brown died in 1884, and Christina died in 1887, but the land remained in her family until 1997. The Elms Foundation was founded in 1999 and purchased the Elms Mission.

Today, you can tour the mission for $20 New Zealand dollars, which is well worth it. You get a guided tour of the house and the library (which are filled with antiques and pictures from the Browns and their relatives), and can then explore the grounds, which includes the chapel and several other outbuildings.

We would strongly recommend that you walk to the Elms Cemetery to see the graves of Alfred Brown, his son, and his wife, as well as the Maori chief, and the graves of several of the officers and enlisted Imperial troops. It's a great cemetery if you like cemeteries!

We were very impressed with the Elms Mission. If you like history, this is the...

This is an amazing place, a true gem in the book of Tauranga history, the fact this place is still in existence in the condition it is in ,is a true delight, we had a group of 10 visit, we phoned first and the staff were more than happy to do a guided tour for us,when we arrived we recieved a warm welcome and were offered umbrellas due to the drizzly weather, the tour was informative, professional and a real eye opener, we all enjoyed it greatly, there was a small admission fee, but the service and experience we recieved was well worth it,i highly recommend this place to anyone who enjoys a genuine and enjoyable blast back into time!-thanks so much "The Elms te papa"-we...

Wow! Such beautiful grounds with so much history, 3 delightful guides took me around, they were so enthusiastic and passionate about sharing the information about the Elms. And I did not know the first ever building in New Zealand of the library amazing! And listening to the guides I felt I had been transported back in time visualizing them walking around from the 1800's. So much to see so many interesting everyday items used that we dont need to use these days, that were so valuable back then, even common illnesses such as asthma which effected one of those living in this time died. Highly...