May 2018 Project Martha – Historical & Archaeological Background 89 Topography and Land Use The topography of the general area is characterised by several hills of volcanic origin, which contain many of the Quartz veins sought after by the mining concerns, past and present. Northwest of Waihi Town the Martha Hill is the most westerly, now heavily modified by open-cast mining activity undertaken since the last quarter of the 20th century (Figure 70). East of the town is Union Hill, which is still largely covered with indigenous forest species (Figure 71), but also contains a high number of pine trees and other exotic species. A smaller stand of indigenous trees survives also on Rosemont Hill nearby to the northeast. Winner, Gladstone, Silverton and Favona Hill describe a slight north-south ‘crescent’ of higher ground east of Union Hill, with Gladstone, Silverton and Favona all modified by mining activity or modern settlement. Winner Hill is also modified to a degree, but retains grassland and exotic forest along the southwest slopes. Motukeho / Black Hill to the southeast of Winner Hill includes the Ngatikoi Domain, and retains a small stand of indigenous forest on the summit with broadleaf indigenous hardwoods to the south and west slopes. The Ohinemuri River creates a ‘U’ around the southern half of the hill, and bisects the area with the upstream stretch meandering northwards between the Gladstone mining site and the eastern tailing storage ponds. On a higher east-west ridge north of the tailing ponds large stand of indigenous forest survives, with pockets of exotic forest north of this. The lower ground between these features, which form the foothills of the Coromandel Range (Figure 71), is largely rural in character, and mainly consists of pasture and grassland, divided up by rural roads and tracks, field boundaries, and watercourses, several of which are branches of the Ohinemuri River. Urban areas are predominantly concentrated around the Martha Pit itself, with the main built areas to the south and west, and about one-third of the urban area to the northeast. In effect this creates an irregular ring, partly constrained by the Coromandel ranges to the west, and the path of the Ohinemuri River to the south (Figure 72). The town of Waihi has a wide main street (Seddon Street), with various historical buildings concentrated in this area, including the old Rob Roy Hotel. The relocated Cornish Pumphouse is on the eastern side of Martha Hill. Together with the replica poppet head these are local landmarks at the northern end of Waihi Township.
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