The 159th anniversary of the battle of Pukehinahina - Gate Pā is being commemorated this weekend.

On Saturday about a hundred people gathered to mark the 159th anniversary at Gate Pā .

The commemorations, held at St George's Church, which is built on top of the pā site, began at on Saturday 4pm, the time when British forces launched their attack on the pā.

The church bell was rung 60 times to remember the approximately 60 men who lost their lives during the battle.

A reconstruction of what the battle ground might have looked like Photo: Buddy Mikaere.

Vicar John Hebenton says when the service began in 2015 the parish wanted to provide a space for people to remember the battle every year.

"A lot of [the people of Tauranga] don't know that this event happens, a lot of them don't know about the battle of Gate Pā.

"They probably drive up Cameron Road past the pou and think I wonder what happened there but never stop to find out."

He says the service is a place where people from Tauranga can learn more and have informed conversations about their history.

The service taking place at St Georges Anglican Church in Tauranga, commemorating the 159th anniversary of the battle of Gate Pā. Photo: RNZ/ Pokere Paewai

Ngāi Tamarāwaho historian Buddy Mikaere says the service had a nice atmosphere about it, with a mixture of Māori and Pākehā spoken.

Buddy Mikaere at Saint George's Anglican Church, Gate Pa. Photo: RNZ/Justine Murray.

"Apart from that it's an opportunity to get young people to participate in this event, because at the end of the day they're going to inherit it and we need them to carry that torch forward," says Buddy.

On April 29 1864 the Battle of Gate Pā was fought on a ridge known as Pukehinahina, between British troops and Ngāi Te Rangi led by Rāwiri Puhirake.

For most of that day British artillery bombarded the pā, but its bunkers and trenches kept the majority of Māori in the pā safe.

When British forces stormed the pā they were surprised to find most of its defenders alive, the assault turned into a rout and a major embarrassment for the British.

The 150th Battle of Gate Pa Commemorations took place in 2014. Photo: Supplied/Buddy Mikaere

At the end of last year the Tauranga City Council voted to reclassify part of the Gate Pā Recreation Reserve, which would allow for a National Institute of the New Zealand Land Wars to be established.

Buddy says the institute will tell the story of the New Zealand Wars, with a focus on what happened at Pukehinahina Gate Pā and at the later battle of Te Ranga.

"We want to tell that story in some innovative ways, so while we do have lots of items in our heritage collection we don't want it to be a museum of things in glass cases, we want it to be an interactive type space."

It's expected to provide a workshop space, exhibition areas, performing arts space, plus room for a visitor experience of contemporary and traditional Māori life.

Buddy says the next step for the institute is to lodge resource consents then raising the money.

Pokere Paewai, RNZ