Sitting beside the village green in Arrowtown, these stone stables, built in the 1870s, are a reminder of the significance of the care and accommodation of horses in nineteenth century New Zealand, and they have historic and architectural significance.

The stables are located on what were originally surveyed as Sections 12 and 13 Block VI in Arrowtown. The stables are located on the rear of Section 13. The Arrowtown rates books record that Henry Wilkinson had a hotel and stable on Section 13 in 1878, and in 1885, he had a shop and a stone stable. The Lake Wakatip Mail records that Wilkinson bought Savage’s Shamrock Hotel (with existing stabling). The paper records that Wilkinson added stabling. Wilkinson advertises ‘First Class Stabling’ where ‘Good Care of Horses may be Depended on’ shortly afterwards. Other histories have recorded that the stables were built for Bendix Hallenstein in 1873, but archaeologist Peter Petchey writes that it is possible that there is confusion with the other stables buildings that stood on the site. Petchey suggests, however, that the two stables buildings were probably contemporary and constructed within a few years of each other.

The history of the stables site shows changing use, with a series of small business operating at different times, as well as some domestic occupation. Petchey writes that this dual domestic/commercial use is ‘typical of nineteenth century Arrowtown.’ From 1890-1905 Richard Cambpell had a ‘stone stable and coach house’ on site. In the 1920s, Thomas McDonnell had sample rooms. Through the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s Ernest Thompson occupied the land, living on site, and running a billiard room and a hairdressers. In the 1960s, there were tea rooms on this section (probably at the Buckingham Street frontage). In the 1980s, a two storey building in ‘historic style’ was built next to the stables.

The former Stables is a stone building built into the bank below the lane behind Buckingham Street, Arrowtown’s main street. The building has a main stone gable and a lean-to opening onto the village green. The roofs of both the lean-to and the main gable are corrugated iron. Photographs from the 1980s show timber doors onto the green, and a single small four-light window under the eaves of the main gable.

In 2015, the former Stables are incorporated into the Stables Restaurant and Bar.