Barton's Bush

Barton's Bush, in Trentham Memorial Park, is the largest remaining area of lowland mixed podocarp/broadleaf forest in the Hutt Valley of New Zealand.

Over time, Barton and his wife acquired more land so that eventually his estate extended from Quinns Post to Silverstream to the west of the Main Road and on both sides of the Hutt River.

Attempts were made to protect the remaining bush as a public reserve through discussions with the family as well as representation to the Minister of Lands.

Based on the remaining stumps, over 100 tōtara had been felled, while the bush was also infested with the exotic pest plants Old Mans Beard (Clematis Vitalba) and Wandering Jew (Tradescantia Fluminensis), both detrimental to the forest.

While it has been subject to some human modification, Barton's Bush still gives a good indication of the sort of lowland forest that the European settlers encountered when they first moved into the Hutt Valley.