Forest & Bird’s regenerating native forest reserve in the heart of Silverstream is open to the public. Miss Esther Mary North – Wellington Girls’ College headmistress from 1938-1950 – donated the property to Forest & Bird in 1965. The reserve is named after Miss North’s aunt, Miss Isabel Ecclesfield.
Miss Isabel North
Miss Isabel North gifted the reserve to Forest & Bird because she feared the property could be carved up for development, like other parts of Silverstream and Pinehaven after World War II. She wrote in an edition of Forest & Bird magazine: “… I know every turn and tree. Just recently I have been rather worried about it. The care of the bush becomes too much for me. There is the recurring fear of bushfires in February and March. There is the constant battle against vandals, chiefly boys. And now there is the struggle against progress. I mean building development. Rather than hear the bulldozers roaring up the slopes of my hills and valleys, rather than hear the mechanical saws leveling the trees and screaming at the birds, I would get up and go to Wellington, dreadful thought! “So I decided to offer it to the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand. I had some anxious moments of waiting and was really delighted that the Society felt able to undertake the care and attention of this area.” Miss North died in 1968 at the age of 76.
The reserve is made up of beech forest, manuka-kamahi and kanuka, and is part of a larger bush area with neighbouring Fendalton Recreation Reserve and Witako Scenic Reserve. Gorse is well under control now and also the wilding pines. The Upper Hutt branch has worked hard to plant over 100 natives on the reserve. There is still 100 more new trees to be planted.
A 40 minute circuit track follows steps cut into steep hillsides in parts. Te Kouka lookout gives expansive views of Silverstream.
European settlers burnt most of the Silverstream and Pinehaven hills for farming but Ecclesfield and other steep areas escaped the worst of the fires. Ecclesfield’s beech forest has some of the largest stands in the Wellington region.
Miss Ecclesfield bought the regenerating bush property in Silverstream in 1919 because of her love of native forest. She maintained the property with help from her niece and with the skilled bushman Frank “Rangi” Herbert Phillips. . He lived in a cottage on the property, and one of the reserve tracks is named after him. (side bar maybe?)
Plants found in the reserve include:
• Black beech, hard beech and rimu
• Kanuka, kohuhu, tarata, mahoe , mapou, kamahi, tawa and lancewood
• Rangiora, tree ferns, hangehange, five finger and mingimingi
• Hound’s tongue ferns, crown ferns and native orchids
Birds found in the reserve include:
• Tui
• Greywarbler
• Silvereye
• Wood pigeon (kereru)
• Morepork
• Fantail
Tracks
Ecclesfield Reserve Walk
Location: The reserve is located at 31 Blue Mountains Road Silverstream, Upper Hutt.
The Ecclesfield Reserve walk contains easy walking tracks through tawa and beech forest. Many native trees and plants can be found including kamahi, tawa, lancewood and different types of ferns.
The tracks are well marked with a lookout situated at the western corner of the reserve on the Te Kouka Knob. Views of the surrounding area can also be obtained from other vantage points.
