Kōrero: Historic places

Archaeologists Susan Forbes and Mary O'Keefe sift through mud looking for artefacts in the basement of Wellington's old Bank of New Zealand building in 1997. During the dig the remains of the hull timbers of the ship Inconstantwere discovered. The vessel had foundered at the entrance of Wellington Harbour in 1849. Businessman John Plimmer had salvaged it and beached it at the southern end of Lambton Quay. It became a warehouse and was soon dubbed Plimmer's Ark. The ship's remains were a major find that captured the public's imagination. Most of the timbers were transported to a waterfront shed for conservation work and a small public display was created in the renovated bank building. In 2016 the conserved timber was to be used to construct public art on the waterfront.