A New Way to Experience a Hidden Piece of New Zealand’s Defence History
On 7 March 2026, visitors were able to explore several of the historic Belmont ammunition magazines during the Belmont Historic Bunker Walk, an event organised by Greater Wellington Regional Council as part of the development of the Magazine Mile walking track.
While the magazines themselves have long been visible to walkers within Belmont Regional Park, the event marked a new way of experiencing and understanding them, with interpretation and displays now explaining their history and purpose.
Since the Belmont ammunition depot closed in the late 1960s and the land eventually passed into public ownership, the magazines have remained accessible to those walking through the hills above the Hutt Valley. However, because the surrounding land has continued to be used for grazing, livestock often had access to the structures. Over time this left the interiors unsuitable for visitors and meant that their historical significance was not easily understood.
Recently Greater Wellington Regional Council undertook work to clean out several of the magazines, install gates to keep livestock out, and establish the Magazine Mile walking track, allowing visitors to safely reach and explore these structures. Three of the magazines have now been fitted with interpretive displays that explain the history of the site and the role it played in New Zealand’s defence.
Rather than simply encountering unexplained concrete bunkers scattered across the hills, visitors can now step inside selected magazines and discover the story behind them.
A Landscape with a Much Older History
The Belmont hills have a long human history that predates both European settlement and the Second World War structures scattered across them.
Early Māori used two major routes linking Wellington Harbour and Porirua Harbour, both crossing the hills that now form Belmont Regional Park. One route began near the mouth of the Korokoro Stream, winding over the hills before descending to Porirua Harbour. Another ran from the Pauatahanui arm of Porirua Harbour, travelling south across the hills and down Speedy’s Stream in Belmont.
These routes initially connected Ngāti Ira communities living in the Hutt Valley and Porirua, and were later used by iwi from Kāwhia and Taranaki who migrated to the region during the 1820s.
European use of the area followed similar paths. The Old Coach Road was first walked in 1857 and later developed into a dray road by 1872, linking the Hutt Valley with Pauatahanui. Horse-drawn coaches used the route until the mid-1880s, when it was replaced by what is now Haywards Hill Road (State Highway 58). Portions of the original road can still be walked today.
The growing settlement of Petone also shaped the area. In 1903 the Korokoro Stream was dammed to provide a secure water supply, and under the Public Works Act the government acquired 1,214 acres of Te Āti Awa land known as the Maungaraki Reserve.
War Comes to the Hills
The arrival of the Second World War dramatically altered the purpose of the Belmont hills.
Following the rapid expansion of Japanese forces across the Pacific in 1941–42, New Zealand faced a dramatically altered strategic environment. The fall of Singapore and Japanese advances through Southeast Asia created genuine fears that the war might reach New Zealand’s shores.
Although most New Zealand combat troops were serving overseas with the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Greece, North Africa and later Italy, the country still had to prepare for the defence of its own territory and support operations in the Pacific theatre.
As part of this effort the Public Works Department constructed 62 reinforced concrete ammunition magazines across just over 1,000 acres in the Belmont hills. According to local accounts the layout was intended to resemble a poultry farm from the air, helping disguise the site from enemy reconnaissance.
The magazines were designed to safely store large quantities of ammunition and explosives. Thick reinforced concrete walls, heavy roof slabs, and internal support pillars were intended to contain blast effects should an accident occur.
Much of the ammunition stored here supported the training and preparation of forces for the Pacific campaign.
A Quiet Extension of National Defence
Stepping inside one of the magazines today reveals a stark and functional interior supported by rows of concrete pillars. The engineering reflects strict safety principles developed internationally for the storage of military explosives.
During the opening event one of the magazines displayed the New Zealand Ensign, accompanied by the line from the national anthem:
“Guard Pacific’s triple star from the shafts of strife and war.”
The symbolism is appropriate. Ammunition depots like Belmont formed part of the quiet infrastructure that enabled New Zealand’s defence. Soldiers in the field depended on ammunition being safely stored, inspected, accounted for, and issued when required. Behind every operational unit stood a network of ordnance depots and logisticians ensuring that munitions were available when needed.
The phrase “Pacific’s triple star” refers poetically to the three principal islands of New Zealand — the North Island, South Island, and Stewart Island. Written in the nineteenth century by Thomas Bracken, the line expresses the hope that these islands, lying in the Pacific Ocean, would be protected from the dangers of war. Displayed inside a former ammunition magazine, the words serve as a reminder that facilities such as Belmont were built precisely to help defend those islands.
The Pacific War Story
The first preserved magazine is marked externally with the Pacific Star, the campaign medal awarded to Commonwealth forces who served against Japan during the Second World War.
The symbol reflects the strategic context in which the Belmont magazines were constructed. The rapid expansion of Japanese power forced New Zealand to strengthen its home defences and expand its logistical infrastructure.
Interpretive panels inside this magazine explain the wartime circumstances that led to the construction of the depot and place Belmont within the wider network of ammunition storage facilities supporting New Zealand’s defence.
One lesser-known aspect of Belmont’s wartime role is that the site also briefly stored chemical warfare munitions, held as part of Allied contingency planning during the war.
The Ordnance Soldiers
The second magazine focuses on the soldiers responsible for operating the depot. Mounted on its exterior is the First World War badge of the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps, originally adopted by the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Europe.
During the Second World War the badge was worn by personnel of the New Zealand Temporary Staff (NZTS) who filled many ordnance roles across the country, as well as members of the New Zealand Ordnance Corps, the territorial component of the wartime organisation.
These men formed the backbone of the Army’s ammunition system. Their duties included inspecting ammunition, maintaining storage conditions, accounting for every item in stock, issuing munitions for training and operations, and safely disposing of obsolete or dangerous stores.
Displays inside this magazine explain the types of ammunition that would have been stored here and the wider industrial and logistical system that supported wartime munitions supply.
The Post-War Depot
The third magazine represents the final operational phase of Belmont. Displayed on its exterior is the post-1953 badge of the Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (RNZAOC).
The Corps had been granted the Royal title in 1947 in recognition of its wartime service, and the revised badge introduced in 1953 became the symbol worn by the post-war generation of ordnance soldiers.
These were the men who operated the Belmont depot during the Cold War years, maintaining ammunition reserves and supporting Army training until the site eventually closed in the late 1960s.
Displays inside this magazine broaden the story further, exploring the earlier human history of the Belmont hills, the movement and dispatch of ammunition, and the geological formation of the landscape following the last ice age around 14,000 years ago.
From Ammunition Depot to Regional Park
After the depot closed the land gradually transitioned to public ownership. Belmont Regional Park opened in 1989, becoming the first park in New Zealand designed to combine recreation, conservation, and farming within a single landscape.
In 2005 the entire area was secured in public ownership and is now managed by Greater Wellington Regional Council.
Today walkers following the Magazine Mile track can explore a landscape where layers of history meet — from Māori travel routes and colonial roads to wartime infrastructure and modern recreation.
Revealing a Hidden Chapter
The opening of the Belmont magazines on 7 March 2026 has helped bring new attention to a landscape that quietly played an important role in New Zealand’s military history.
For decades these reinforced concrete structures stood largely unexplained among the hills. With interpretation now installed and access improved, visitors can better understand how this remote site once formed part of the logistical backbone supporting the New Zealand Army.
Today the magazines stand silent, their concrete walls no longer holding ammunition. Yet they remain powerful reminders of a time when the defence of New Zealand depended not only on soldiers overseas, but also on the hidden infrastructure at home that helped ensure the nation could indeed guard
“Pacific’s triple star from the shafts of strife and war.”
