Okuratope Pā was situated here and was the home to chief Te Hotete (father of Hongi Hika) of the Ngai Tawake hapū in the late 18th-early 19th centuries.

[1] The members of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) appointed to establish the mission were the Rev.

William Yate and lay members Richard Davis, George Clarke and James Hamlin.

[2] The first European wedding in New Zealand was conducted on 11 October 1831 at the St. John the Baptist Church, when William Gilbert Puckey (26), son of a Missionary carpenter, William Puckey, married Matilda Elizabeth Davis (17), second daughter of the Missionary Rev.

Today the only remnant on the site is the house originally occupied by George Clarke, which is preserved by Heritage New Zealand as a museum.

[8][9] In October 2020, the Government committed $500,000 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade the marae, creating 29 jobs.

The results were 77.2% European (Pākehā), 36.0% Māori, 2.6% Pasifika, 4.4% Asian, and 1.8% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander".