Makareao Lime Works (Former)

254 Limekiln Road, MAKAREAO

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The Makareao Lime Works with its three pot kilns, impressive brick Schmatolla Kiln, quarries and remains of the infrastructure of the Works is an outstanding monument to the importance of the lime industry to New Zealand’s development and is evidence of the historic industrial system that provided lime for both building and agriculture in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Lime deposits in the Waihemo area had been exploited as early as the 1860s, but it was not until the Government became involved in the construction of the Inch Valley Lime Quarry in 1898 that the lime burning industry was established on a large scale. Minister of Lands John McKenzie, himself a landowner in the Palmerston area, supported the establishment of the works and the associated branch railway. Construction was overseen by the Public Works Department with District Engineer Edgeworth Ussher managing the contracts. In 1900 after some technical problems, the first lime kiln was fired. A branch railway was built to bring the coal for fuel into the works and to carry the lime to buyers, with the government providing free carriage for lime within 100 miles of the works. After initial elation when the firing produced a ‘splendid sample’ of burnt lime, further difficulties followed. The kilns operated inefficiently and for a period the works were closed down and it was recommended that more kilns, in particular gas fired kilns were needed to make the operation viable. The Hon. Thomas Kelly, Member of the Legislative Council and a man with training in chemistry and experience in lime burning, was requested by McKenzie to assess the operation and provide a design for a gas fired kiln. This he did, with the operational support of engineer George Robinson who oversaw the project. Tragedy dogged the Works, when during the construction of the new kiln a cutting collapsed killing three workers, in a widely reported accident. Still the works failed to pay and the Government offered up the lease of the works by public tender. In 1909 the Milburn Lime and Cement Company (Milburn Company) took over the operation, starting a long term and significant association with Makareao. One of the first decisions of the Milburn Company was to build a large and impressive brick Schmatolla Kiln, adopted with enthusiasm by company manager Frank Oakden after a fact finding visit with the inventor Ernst Schmatolla in Germany. The Milburn Company continued to develop the plant, adding new technologies as the need arose, and providing accommodation for workers, including a brick swimming pool near the Men’s Quarters and opening new quarries as the old ones were worked out. The Makareao Lime Works went on to become a key supplier of lime for the Burnside Cement Works near Dunedin until their closure in 1988, and therefore were associated with major building projects such as the Roxburgh Hydro Dam, in the mid twentieth century. The Makareao Lime Works are located in Inch Valley, inland from Palmerston in North Otago, amidst the modern processing plant operated by Taylor’s Lime. The two nineteenth century and early twentieth quarry sites are located in the valley just above where the current processing plant is located. The historic lime works and associated sites and plant are located on the slopes of the hill below the quarry. Stone was transported by way of a cable and tramway system the remains of which can still be seen. The Schmatolla Kiln is perched on the hillside just above the current processing plant. There are three buried pot kilns (or perhaps the gas fired kilns) behind the Schmatolla Kiln. On a terrace between the Schmatolla Kiln and the Quarry are the remains of the Engineering Shop and the Winch Shed demolished in the late 1980s. The foundation and some equipment remain in place. The Single Men’s Quarters were located a short distance down the valley away from the caustic environment. The Single Men’s quarters was a long low single gable building demolished probably the same time as the Engineering Shop. Close by, the brick swimming pool built for the use of the [community] still remains. The swimming pool is raised above the ground (rather than recessed) with brick stairs providing access up. The Makareao Lime Works provide insight into the history of the lime burning industry, which was integral in the nineteenth century to the production of lime for both building materials and for agricultural purposes. Makareao Lime Works has special technological value in illustrating the nineteenth and twentieth century systems for producing lime and providing examples of kiln types used in lime production telling an important story within history of the lime industry. In 2010 the historic Makareao Lime Works, standing amidst the modern operations of Taylor’s Lime which produces burnt lime, hydrated lime and agricultural lime, recalls the historic importance of the lime industry to New Zealand’s development, its role in promoting agriculture and its value to the building industry.

Makareao Lime Works (Former), Makareao | 10/10/2008 | Holcim New Zealand Limited
Makareao Lime Works (Former), Makareao | 10/10/2008 | Holcim New Zealand Limited
Makareao Lime Works (Former), Makareao | 10/10/2008 | Holcim New Zealand Limited

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 1

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

4368

Date Entered

11th November 1987

Date of Effect

11th November 1987

City/District Council

Waitaki District

Region

Otago Region

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes the land described as Lot 1 DP 406503, Secs 84-85 Blk VIII, and part of the land described as Sec 31 Blk XII Moeraki SD (RT 467342), Otago Land District, and the structures associated with Makareao Lime Works, and their fittings and fixtures, and the archaeological remains associated with the Makareao Lime Works thereon. The registration does not include the Taylor's Lime Works that operates on parts of Sec 84- 85 Blk VIII and Sec 31 Blk XII, Otago Land District. (Refer to the maps in Appendix 1 of the Registration Report, showing the extent and the area excluded from the registration).

Legal description

Lot 1 DP 406503, Secs 84-85 Blk VIII, Sec 31 Blk XII Moeraki SD (RT 467342), Otago Land District

Location Description

Limekiln Road is off State Highway 85 at Inch Valley, some 2 kilometres south west of Dunback.

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