The Shipwreck That Built Wellington City.

The Story of Plimmer's Ark.

You can easily miss it.

Underneath the escalator of the Old Bank Arcade Shopping Centre (on the corner of Customhouse House Quay and Lambton Quay) is one of Wellington’s most important historical finds. ‘Plimmer’s Ark’, despite being somewhat hidden today, was a centre of Wellington trade in the 1800’s and an important clog in the growth of early Wellington.

Now the ’Plimmer’s Ark’ display has been given a new face-lift by Wellington Museum.

‘The historic site and remains of ‘Plimmer’s Ark’ now have a new lease of life. Together with a timeline illustrating the growth of architectural diversity within the city, the site now shines brighter, and is hopefully harder to miss’, Brent Fafeita, Museums Wellington.

In 1851, John Plimmer bought the wreck of the Inconstant which had run aground on the eastern coast of Wellington Harbour. He had her towed into Wellington and beached her below his house above Lambton Quay (which was then the beach of Wellington Harbour), where he arranged for a shop to be constructed on the beached hull with a newly-built wharf for access.

It became known as ‘Plimmer’s Ark’- named after Plimmer himself and because it resembled the shape of Noah’s Ark. The ‘Ark’ quickly became a centre of Wellington trade.

As the waterfront expanded and earthquakes uplifted land, Lambton Quay became landlocked. The upper works of the ’Ark’ were demolished in the 1880s and the lower hull was left under what became the first Bank of New Zealand – now the Old Bank Arcade shopping centre. In 1997 the rest of the remains were dug up with the Old Bank Arcade refurbishment – and the task of conserving the remains was undertaken by Wellington Museum.

Today, the space itself has been refreshed with a new graphic identity designed by Renee Feith. With the glass floor cleaned it’s now much easier to see the actual remains underneath.
And if you take a 20 metre walk through the Arcade and down to the escalators towards the BNZ Underground Mall - you’ll also find small replica displays of The Inconstant and Plimmer’s Ark.

With clean, striking graphics on the walls and an updated audio visual component with subtitles, the historical display is more accessible for people to learn the fascinating story of Plimmer's Ark and its historical importance to Wellington City.

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