Te Rangihaeata's pa at Pauatahanui

This ground plan of Te Rangihaeata's pa at Pauatahanui shows two rows of palisades, a six-foot ditch, several whare, an open yard and a chapel. The sketch at lower right shows the outer palisades, which were over 15 feet in height. The holes near the ground may be for escape or for firing through.

A series of small British raids on this pa, built on the site where St Alban's church stands today, forced its abandonment. More than 300 Ngati Toa, including women and children, withdrew north to a position in the hills east of the Horokiri Stream that is now known as Battle Hill. The abandoned pa was turned into a British military post. It was garrisoned by detachments of regular regiments, providing protection to Europeans wishing to settle around the inlet.