Whitcher Grove is a historically important road that links both Moores Valley and Reservoir Road.
History
Whitcher Grove was named after the developer, Ian Herbert Whitcher (1915-1995). He was a former secretary of Wainuiomata Properties Ltd that had a registered office on Moores Valley Road. The company was dissolved in February 1989.
Whitcher Grove holds notable historical significance in Wainuiomata, especially in connection with the Sinclair family, who ran a steam sawmill on the bluff above the Wainuiomata Stream, complete with workers’ huts. A tramway extended from the mill along Whitcher Grove and through Waterworks/Sinclair Valley, originally used for transporting logs to the mill and later repurposed to carry passengers to the dam.
The road was once home to a mansion known as House Northbrook. Built in 1867 by John Mowlem, this grand residence then came into the hands of his brothers-in-law Duncan and John Sinclair for a brief time. Other families owned the home over the ensuing decades including Ian Whitcher, till the house was demolished in the 1980s due to severe deterioration caused by borer infestation.
In the 1880s near the mansion was a fishing hut called Smiths / Stocks Whare where a James Eman Smith (1862 – 1916) often spent his recreational time fishing with friends. He worked for the Treasury Department before becoming the Resident Commissioner of the Cook Islands and Commissioner of Pensions.
A maintenance road use to branch off the end of Whitcher Grove that gave access to the old water pipeline. Part of the old dam system located here consisted of a shaft and tunnel called Colemans Tunnel which is routed under the road.
Today
Whitcher Grove remains an important route, providing access to the water catchment area in Reservoir Valley and featuring an entrance to Wainuiomata Regional Park at 10 Whitcher Grove. The properties along this road are mainly farmsteads, with number 6 operating as a function centre known as Rosewood Estate. From the road, a prominent redwood tree is visible on one of the properties, near the former location of Northbrook. This tree may have been planted by the Sinclair family, as there are three other redwoods on Hine Road, all on land once owned by the Sinclair family. Later, the land came under the ownership of John and Mary Wakeham, whose timeline also aligns with the estimated age of these trees. The redwood species holds the record as the tallest tree species on Earth.
