Exploring a historic garden while on the Bay of Plenty Garden & Art Trail this weekend is also a great opportunity to use the Historic Tauranga Nga Tapuwae ki Te Papa | Footprints on Te Papa map and guide.

Located at 15 Mission Street, The Elms | Te Papa is listed on the New Zealand Heritage List/ Rārangi Kōrero as a Category 1 and 2 historic place.

Te Papa Mission Station is where the Tauranga sheet of the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 and where officers dined who were about to engage in the 1864 Battle of Gate Pā | Pukehinahina. Kauri from Whitianga was used to build the Mission House, which is a superb example of late-Georgian architecture. Costing £300 it was completed in 1847.

Within the grounds is NZ's oldest free-standing library, storing more than 1000 beautifully-bound books, letters, pamphlets, family records, and personal papers.

During the 1818-1842 Musket Wars, threats were frequent, with a trapdoor in the floor opening to an underground hiding space. Established in 1839, the library has a Category 1 historic place listing.

In 2018 the New Zealand Gardens Trust registered The Elms garden as a ‘Garden of Significance' with a five-star rating. One of the oldest New Zealand European gardens south of the Bay of Islands, it was originally created by the Church Missionary Society, along with The Treaty House gardens at Waitangi.

This historic garden wonder includes extensive and established collections of English trees, palm trees, NZ native trees & plants, heritage roses, heritage food plants and trees over 2.5 acres.

The third location featured on the Footprints on Te Papa map that is based at The Elms | Te Papa is the Elms Pavilion constructed in 2020.

Honouring Ngāi Tamarāwaho of Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Tapu of Ngāi Te Rangi as holders of the site's mana whenua, designers and artists entwined the strands of many stories of Māori and Pākehā who occupied the site, to create this beautiful bicultural garden and pavilion.

Guided tours are available daily without pre-booking, with admission ranging from $7.50 to $15. For group visits, please pre-book by phoning 07 577 9772.

This weekend, on November 19-20 those with Bay of Plenty Garden & Art Festival passes have free entry to explore the grounds at The Elms | Te Papa.

The Weekend Sun is publishing a series of stories based on some of the locations in the Historic Tauranga Nga Tapuwae ki Te Papa | Footprints on Te Papa map and guide, which is available from Tourism Bay of Plenty, SunMedia, Tauranga City Library, The Elms | Te Papa and Tauranga i-Site.

See more locations at: www.footprintsontepapa.nz