Luggate's former flour mill is a three-storey schist mill, built in 1881 and located in the small Central Otago settlement of Luggate on the western side of State Highway 8, 13 kilometres south-east of Wanaka.
In the late nineteenth century Luggate, a small settlement near Wanaka on the Wanaka-Cromwell highway, was the centre of farming, with both small farming and the larger stations such as Mt. Pisa, Queensberry Hills, Queensberry Ridges and Locharburn in the area. Gold workings could also be found in the vicinity, principally on the Criffel Range between Luggate and Cardrona, about nine miles from Wanaka. In the 1890s dredges worked the Clutha River around Luggate. Farmers grew crops of wheat and oats, but complained about a lack of market for the wheat, which they grew principally for their own use.
Farmer and businessman Thomas Anderson, who had built and owned the hotels at Queensberry and Kidd's Gully, moved from Queensberry to Luggate where, in 1881, he purchased land in partnership with carrier Peter McIntosh.
In January 1881 the Otago Witness reported that 'last season the settlers were much inconvenienced by the want of a mill to turn their wheat into flour, but this is to be at once remedied, for the plant is on the ground to erect a mill on the Luggate Creek.' By March the mill was under construction on a site close to what would shortly be a bridge over the Clutha at Luggate. The Otago Witness correspondent reported that the mill was to be constructed from locally quarried stone, with millers and proprietors' private houses also to be built. The correspondent believed that Luggate would be the 'true agricultural centre of these districts, and will eventually become a place of importance.' The mill made use of a large water race originating some distance up the Luggate Creek, which was previously used for mining purposes.
The Flour Mill was three storeys high to allow for the processing of grain. If this mill operated in a way common to other multi-storey mills, the grain was lifted to the top floor and then dropped to a hopper which fed the grain to the millstone. When the grain was ground it went by chute to a sack at ground floor level.
The Luggate mill's first advertisement read 'The mill is fitted with the latest machinery, and the utmost care will be exercised in milling'. A survey plan, drawn in 1883, shows the mill with a hut, house and pigsty built to the south. The mill was water-powered, with a large Pelton wheel fed by a race above it.
In 1894 Anderson is reported as having overhauled the Luggate Flour Mill. The stone flour mill was dismantled and replaced with a set of rollers which doubled the capacity of the mill. As many mills replaced their grinding stones with rollers, there was controversy about the respective merits of each, including whether brown or white bread was more nutritious.
In 1899 Anderson offered the Luggate Mill for sale. The Otago Witness reported that local farmers were considering buying the mill and running it as a cooperative, but it seems the sale may have fallen through.
In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century there was much speculation about the expanding rail network and the need for it to reach into the Upper Clutha Valley. While many locals were vocal supporters of such a scheme, others, like Anderson apparently recognised the potential effects on trade. A special report in the Otago Witness recorded Anderson's opinion that 'the country did not justify a railway at all; the land was poor except in one or two patches, and the settlers had ample local market for their grain.' The writer recognised the self-interest in Anderson's position:
'Growers of wheat are naturally obliged to take their produce to Mr Anderson's mill provided he pays a price for it which would show a profit on the cost of haulage to Cromwell or further, and in the same way as long as the flour is not too much per ton above the price at Cromwell the settlers and others of the whole of the Hawea and Wanaka districts will obtain their flour from Mr Anderson, who can thus reap a very good profit. Flourmilling pays, here' this was exemplified [sic] by Mr Anderson's highly-cultivated farm, where I saw rich grass paddocks, carrying a very high average of sheep to the acre, and acres upon acres of rich, strong stubble, which could have yielded but little under 80 bushels of wheat per acre. This is one of the finest farms in the whole district, and this is the ground Mr Anderson describes as of poor quality.'
In 1903 Anderson was reported as having bought a farm 'down south'. There was speculation as to whether he would sell the farm and mill at Luggate, or keep both places.
In 1904 McIntosh sold out his share of the mill to Anderson. The Otago Witness records that a new miller and his family were established at the Luggate Flour Mill in November 1904.
In 1908 Reid and McDowell bought the mill. 'Very extensive improvements' were completed at this time. Reid and McDowell also owned the Hayes Lake flour mill. However, the Luggate mill could still not cope with all the wheat grown in the area. As historian Irene Roxburgh notes, for instance, although Reid and McDowell purchased a thousand bags of grain in 1909, there was still much unsold in the area. A large part of this was due to the difficulty of transporting goods to Dunedin at a time when the railway ended at Clyde, and goods had therefore to be carted the distance of approximately 90 kilometres to the railhead by wagon. In 1910, McDowell left the partnership with Reid, who continued working as William Reid and Sons.
At the beginning of the World War Two, with a shortage of workers, the firm ceased operating, although William Reid and Sons continued to own the mill and surrounding land. The property was transferred to the ownership of other members of the Reid family at different times until they formed the Upper Clutha Transport Company Ltd in 1967.
In 2008 Upper Clutha Transport Company Ltd. still owns the former Luggate Flour Mill, and uses it as a workshop.
