Since early August 1863 Kingitanga forces had been fighting the British advance into Waikato territory from the so-called Meremere line, a 22 km-long line of fortifications that spread from Pukekawa to Meremere and Paparata.
Work on the Rangiriri line had begun before the fall of Meremere with a 500m[REF] long double ditch dug between the Waikato River and Lake Kopuera.