Carrington Hospital (Former) Heritage and Archaeology Report
Last updated: 25 November 2025 This report is a comprehensive record of the post-1840 history of the former Carrington hospital site, as well as an archaeological assessment.
Background
This report was commissioned by Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. The report concerns the ‘Carrington Hospital complex’ which is 65 hectares of land, within the Wairaka Precinct, and is intended to serve as a historic record of the site, as well as a starting point for further investigations.
Approximately 39.7 hectares of the former complex is held by the Crown and administered for State housing purposes. We are in the process of disposing of the land it holds to Rōpū and iwi pursuant to its Treaty obligations in the Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Deed and Act. The wider hospital complex previously extended across land that is now held by Unitec, Health New Zealand (Mason Clinic) and Ngāti Whātua Whai Rawa. The report also deals with the history of this land.
Scope
The land within the Carrington Hospital complex was a significant pre-colonial Māori landscape, with the Te Auaunga and Oakley Creek, and Wairaka Stream creating habitats for birds and fish that supported communities living in and around Ōwairaka Mt Albert.
From the 1860s onwards, the Crown acquired land for what became the Auckland Lunatic Asylum, with the first building – which is a Category A/1 Historic Place – constructed in 1865.
Over the next 120 years, the asylum (known variously as the Auckland Mental Hospital, Oakley Hospital and Carrington Hospital) was progressively expanded to include additional buildings to house patients, productive farmland, livestock and staff accommodation.
This report is focused on the post-1840 history of the site, and its use as a psychiatric facility, but also includes an archaeological assessment of the land which encompasses some of its earlier history.
We also commissioned architectural records of several of the site buildings, including collations of the historic drawings, photographs and buildings scans. These evaluations are not included within this report but have been provided to Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga