Sandymount Lime Kilns Complex

15 and 16 Sandymount Road and 1299 Highcliff Road, Sandymount, Dunedin, OTAGO

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Like a rumpled duvet the Otago Peninsula is a striking landscape of hills and valleys and precipitous cliffs striated with dry stone walls and subject to wind ‘nine days out of ten.’ The lime kilns complex at Sandymount on the Peninsula is an outstanding example of mid-late 19th century European industry that exploited materials for the development of the land for the building and roading industries. The kilns, quarries and associated archaeological sites date between 1865-73 are of historical and technological significance in what is an outstanding archaeological landscape. Both iwi history and archaeological evidence show Māori occupation in the Ōtākou Otago region over an extended period, with the inhabitants utilising a wide variety of natural resources from the diverse environment. Kāi Tahu mana whenua is recognised over a large part of Te Wai Pounamu. Kāti Māmoe and Waitaha whakapapa and shared occupation are always acknowledged. Prior to and at the onset of European arrival there were numerous settlements about the coastal margins of the Otago Peninsula. Ōtākou was considered as having one of the highest concentrations of mana whenua in the south from 1769 to 1836 and is said to have had up to 2000 inhabitants in the early nineteenth century. Walter Riddell (1837-1922) was the first European settler in Sandymount in 1864 and began clearing the land for cropping while also establishing a farm. An outcrop of limestone ran from this property to the northwest. As well as being a useful building material, limestone was quarried for burning to create quicklime which could be used in the agricultural and construction industries. Kilns were built to burn the lime near to quarries and often included tramways to move the stone from quarry to kiln, and kiln to a loading or storage area. It’s likely there were two lime burning operations in Sandymount with the upper two kilns (I44/83 and I44/84) built by local stonemason William Dick (1837-1921) and under the operation of lime burner James McDonald (1840-1934) both on his own land and the land of Riddell. The other operation relates to the lower kiln (I44/85) possibly built by stonemason William Robertson (1812-1902) senior and his sons on land owned by Robert Stewart and operating as Robertson brothers from the Glenmore Lime Kilns, Peninsula during 1873. The exact dates of construction of these kilns are not clear. James McDonald began testing lime in the area from at least 1865. He leased land from Riddell from 1870-1890 and is recorded as burning lime commercially in 1870. The kilns vary in size but are all pot kilns with three chambers (charging bowl, firebox and drawing eye compartment) which suited the steep hillsides into which they were built. The upper and middle kilns are similar in their construction, mortared limestone run on course cladding the brick lined kilns, but vary in their size, the middle kiln being monumental. The lower kiln employs a different construction method where the stonemason used a random rubble method incorporating limestone and volcanic tuff which strongly supports the interpretation that the lowest kiln was built by different stone masons. The Milburn Lime and Cement Company took over the kilns from McDonald when he joined the company and decreased production as deposits in North Otago were developed. Lime burning in Sandymount ended around 1938, the lime crushing plant was demolished in 1974 and in 1976 the middle kiln and land were donated to the Otago Peninsula Trust by then owners, New Zealand Cement Holdings Ltd. Fundraising saw the kiln restored and interpretation designed. The kiln sites remain accessible to the public to view today (the upper kiln is viewable only from the public road) and are well known features of the Otago peninsula landscape.

Sandymount Lime Kilns Complex, Sandymount | Sarah Gallagher | 29/07/2021 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
Sandymount Lime Kilns Complex, Sandymount. Middle Kiln. View from the west | Sarah Gallagher | 29/07/2021 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
Sandymount Lime Kilns Complex, Sandymount. Middle Kiln. View from the north | Sarah Gallagher | 29/07/2021 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
Sandymount Lime Kilns Complex, Sandymount. Bottom Kiln. Firebox | Sarah Gallagher | 29/07/2021 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
Sandymount Lime Kilns Complex, Sandymount. Top kiln | Sarah Gallagher | 29/07/2021 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 1

Access

Able to Visit

List Number

377

Date Entered

4th April 2004

Date of Effect

7th July 2022

City/District Council

Dunedin City

Region

Otago Region

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes part of the land described as Pt Lot 1 DP 22451 (RT OT14B/1181), Pt Sec 54 Blk III Otago Peninsula District (RT OT271/111), Pt Sec 37 Blk II Otago Peninsula District (RT OT268/194) and Pt Sec 5 Blk III Otago Peninsula District (RT OT14B/1180), Legal Road, Otago Land District and the structures and archaeological sites associated with the Sandymount Lime Burning Area, thereon. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the List entry report for further information).

Legal description

Part of Pt Lot 1 DP 22451 (RT OT14B/1181), part of Pt Sec 54 Blk III Otago Peninsula District (RT OT271/111), part of Pt Sec 37 Blk II Otago Peninsula District (RT OT268/194) and part of Pt Sec 5 Blk III Otago Peninsula District (RT OT14B/1180), Legal Road, Otago Land District

Location Description

Upper kiln - I44/83 – (OT14B/1181) E 1416907 N 4917532 (NZTM) Middle kiln – I44/84 – (OT271/111) - E 1416903 N 4917677 (NZTM) Bottom kiln – I44/85 – (OT268/194) - E 1416821 N 4917870 (NZTM) Tramway – I44/81 – (OT14B/1180) - E 1416891 N 4917616 (NZTM) Limestone Crushing Plant - I44/447 - (OT14B/1180) - E 1416561 N 4917444 (NZTM)

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