The Mahurangi Cement Works (near Warkworth) saw New Zealand’s first manufacturing of Portland cement in the 1880s.

Today the whole complex makes a picturesque ruin next to the lake formed by the flooded quarry alongside. As the remains of the first Portland cement works in the southern hemisphere, the ruin is of undoubted historical significance and in terms of industrial archaeology being a testament to the pioneering efforts of Nathaniel Wilson in this field.

There have been many reports of mysterious shadow apparitions moving amongst the stones. Odd lights, screams and the sound of a something like a generator coming from deep within the crumbling ruins.