A phenomenological approach to the Wellington landscape extends these ideas further. Vast areas of bush were being cleared and then defined and imbued with meaning as places. Places were named; that in turn defined them as socially important areas. These places became associated with narratives and stories, and the landscape became
inscribed with a cultural code that signified its relative importance to society.
The bush would seem to have been “rolled” back from the land, and the landscape became defined as it was cleared. The naming of places, such as farms, sections of rivers, hills and mountain peaks all contributed to this defining process. Wilton’s Bush was a gully of bush that became defined as part of the landscape and this definition gave it an importance that later helped to preserve it.
The phenomenology of landscape also attends to the degree to which something of the initial encounter and process of defining the landscape had a lasting effect on people. By the 1870s much of the land closer to Wellington had been cleared but the Manawatu and northern Wairarapa were still covered with bush. This bush was largely
impenetrable for anyone other than surveyors or local Maori. Direct perception of the bush was of it as damp, thick, vast and disorientating. Maori moved freely through it, and there were hostile images of Maori associated with the bush long after the Colonial Wars. Clearing the bush must have diminished the perceived threat of Maori. Ironically, it was the appropriation and clearing of the land that contributed to Maori hostility. As New Zealand photographs and paintings of the time show, the tall trees and vistas from high points were picturesque, but the bush was in fact quite intimidating. Direct
perception of the bush seemed to illicit a reaction of both admiration and wonder and as well as practical caution and fear.
Figure 36 - John Hoyte (1835-1913) : Wades Town, near Woodwards (ca 1870s)
A track leading into the Wadestown bush with Maori walking out of what looks like an endless forest. (ATL Reference No. G-200)
As outlined in the chapter on painting and photography, art historians clearly see that the New Zealand landscape and bush influenced artists, even if it was genre bound. A unique New Zealand image was coming from directly perceiving the landscape.
A phenomenological understanding of the Wellington landscape by 1900 was very similar to the dwelling cultural perspective previously described, but one where the landscape had already been defined. New Zealand’s landscape, as it was cleared, turned the olive bush into green grass, which was now exposed to the wind and rain. Pasture was littered with stumps which would often take another twenty or thirty years to rot. Once the Manawatu and Seventy Mile Bush had been cleared, the only remaining lowland bush was along the foothills of the Tararuas. The establishment of national parks and bush reserves gave the bush a place within the landscape. Bush reserves with names and associations with settlers, or mountain peaks named after explorers or prominent people, gave natural features a cultural significance. After 1900, many reserves were set up around Wellington, often named after the original farm owner. This connection to the original farmer has become increasingly significant. Even though
Wilton’s Bush was an exceptional stand of bush, it had been defined as special because of the congenial surroundings for picnics and its proximity to Wellington.
Figure 37 - George Angas (1822-1886) : Scene in a New Zealand forest near Porirua (1847) Even though this painting has botanical detail, the bush quickly becomes dark and shadowy. (ATL Reference No. PUBL-0014-06)
Wilton’s Bush, and other bushy picnic areas, can be seen as having phenomenological connections to the original bush experience. Small pockets of bush with picnic areas beside them allow people to venture safely into the bush and return easily.
The defining of a place may not always align with the predominant cultural perception. It would be interesting to know what local farmers thought of Job Wilton in the early 1860s, when he first fenced the bush. His own values toward the bush were obviously
different from most settlers of the time, and reflected not only his own admiration of the bush, but possibly his own awareness that within his generation most of bush would be gone. Job Wilton, having grown up in Wellington in the 1850s, would have seen the landscape cloaked in bush. As a child he was not involved in its destruction for farmland but by 1860, when he bought the farm, many areas around the city had been cleared.
Figure 38 - Samuel Brees (1810-1865) : Hawkestone Street, with Mr Brees' cottage. (ca 1845) An interesting mixture of a European looking Wellington landscape with Maori hauling a canoe. (ATL Reference No. A-109-021)
The history of Wilton’s Bush shows how there was a specific course of events that led to the reserve being what it is today. The circumstances leading to the Pipitea Maori owning the Otari natives block and Job Wilton deciding to keep the area of bush near his homestead were unique. To set aside a gully of bush so close to the homestead was fairly rare, although very practical for collecting firewood. To fence the bush gully was exceptionally rare and showed a deliberate intention to protect it from stock. By 1900, cultural perceptions of bush had changed, and Wilton’s Bush had been defined as a special pocket of bush to be preserved.