The Auckland Archery Club began its shooting history on the slopes of One Tree Hill in 1944. It is believed that a club existed on the same site in earlier years but no known records of this exist. At one stage in its history, the Auckland Club was the largest in the British Commonwealth.
History of the Club
Historically the oldest surviving club is the Dunedin Archery Club formed in 1938 but letters to various newspapers at that time indicate the existence of an Auckland Archery Club in the 1870's.
A letter to The Star written by a Mr. H. Browne in July of 1957, states that the first archery contest in the country was held in Auckland at Parnell in 1870. It was held on a property owned by the Honorable William Swainston (an early Attorney General ) which is now the park overlooking Judges Bay. Spectators were Prince Alfred (Duke of Edinburgh), Lord Beresford and the Misses Balmavis. After the match guests were entertained in the Swainston home which had been bought from England in 1853.
An article written in the Sandringham Star in July 1959 states that the first shoot held by the then Auckland Archery Club was held on the farm owned by Alan Kerr-Taylor on the 9th December 1871. It was attended by 80 people, most of whom were participants. A further article from the New Zealand Herald in August 1970 states that the Auckland Archery Club held a number of shoots on this farm and these were believed to be the first shoots held in the Mt Albert District. The Alan Kerr-Taylor farm originally covered approximately 1,000 acres. All that remains today is the Alberton Homestead.
Auckland Archery Club is mainly a Target Archery club. This means that we specialise in shooting at specified distances from a target set out in an open field. At present we cater for recurve, compound, crossbow, longbow and now more recently, the hosting of field shooting events.
The club is now the largest target archery club in New Zealand having a rather roller coaster ride with membership over the last thirty odd years. In the early days, the club did have a fixed field shooting course through the trees on the southern slopes of One Tree Hill to compliment the target range, but that has long since gone with the park becoming increasingly popular as an outing venue for Aucklanders and tourists.
The main part of the club rooms was built in 1946, ex-army, and an addition to the main room was effected several years later to enable the members to shoot a full indoor FITA of 18 metres. So over the years many members have devoted many hours of time with maintenance and general improvements.
Over the last four or five years the clubs membership has increased and is steadily growing.