In 1870 the Armed Constabulary built a redoubt here for defence against Te Kooti and to guard an important crossing of the Waikato River at its outflow from Lake Taupo. Both the redoubt and courthouse were located on the opposite bank of the river to the Ngati Tuwharetoa pa at Nukuhau, reported in the mid 1860s as being one of only two pa around the lake not to support the Kingite movement of King Potatau. There was never any fighting here, and it was abandoned in 1885.
Initially functioning as a combined courthouse and hall for the use of the Armed Constabulary, the building was originally erected in 1881 at a short distance from the Armed Constabulary redoubt in Taupo (initially known as Tapuaeharuru). The structure is believed to have been the last major building in the township erected by the Armed Constabulary, who were withdrawn from the settlement in January1885 and disbanded in favour of a civil police force the following year.
The hall is now the home of the Taupo Kohanga Reo (Maori language preschool).
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A pumice magazine building stands in one corner of the redoubt, erected inside the fortification by the middle of 1874 to house munitions used by the Tapuaeharuru force. The pumice is said to have been quarried at Aratiatia, some distance downstream along the Waikato River.
Find out more about the magazine building
In 1940, the redoubt was incorporated into Taupo Domain at the request of the Town Board, while the former Post and Telegraph Office was moved and partly incorporated into the Town Board offices in Story Place in 1947. Renewed interest in the historic nature of the site in the 1960s led to the magazine being restored, and it was set aside as a historic reserve in 1968. The site has been managed by the the New Zealand Historic Places Trust since that time.