Cultural Significance

This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Recommendation for Classification report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Cultural: The farm complex illustrates something of the do-it-yourself cultural life of rural 19th century districts in New Zealand. District dances were held in the cookhouse and the dining hall was used at times by the district's young people as a roller skating rink. Social: This complex of buildings illustrates, indirectly, something of the social landscape of its time. At the height of this brick-making industry swaggers and casual work seekers provided a constantly changing workforce for the farm and brickworks. Most of the employees were fed and accommodated on the property as well as being paid for the work they did. District dances were held in the cookhouse, and the dining hall was used, at times, as a roller skating rink.

Historic Significance

Historical Significance or Value This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Recommendation for Classification report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Historical: Quinn's was the final New Zealand home of Irish-born immigrant William Quinn (1834-1914). After making money servicing the Central Otago goldfields, Quinn returned to Makikihi, where he engaged in farming and general entrepreneurial activities.

Physical Significance

This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Recommendation for Classification report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Architectural: Five of the seven buildings in this farm complex are constructed on bricks made on the premises. The house is an unpretentious and clean-lined villa - a product of the traditional scales, values, and inherited practices of the 19th century builder. The stables and dining hall are pleasant and sensible rural buildings in brick. Other outbuildings are more modest in scale and shape. Scientific: The foundations of the brickworks are still extant and could be excavated to determine the composition of the bricks. Technological: The transportation of local clay is illustrated by the provision of a private railway siding to the south of the homestead and in the hoppers used to convey clay to the kilns.

Detail Of Assessed Criteria

This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Recommendation for Classification report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. (a) The extent to which the place reflects important or representative aspects of New Zealand history: Homesteads and farm complexes reflect the importance of the agricultural sector to the development of the colonial economy. Quinn's various activities demonstrate that he was an important figure in the life of the Makikihi community. (b) The association of the place with events, persons or ideas of importance in New Zealand history: William Quinn, local farmer and entrepreneur, was an important person in late colonial South Canterbury. This historic place is associated with colonial settlement and local entrepreneur ship. The brickworks were clandestinely demolished in 1920 in order to eliminate competition. There is still evidence of the remains of the brick-making buildings. (c) The potential of the place to provide knowledge of New Zealand history: The survival of so many outbuildings gives this complex potential to demonstrate the range of activities carried on at a farmstead of this type in the late 19th century. (g) The technical accomplishment or value, or design of the place: There are seven buildings in this complex including Quinn's Homestead itself. One of the distinctive features of the group as a whole is the degree of textual harmony within the group achieved by the pleasant and pragmatic designs of the various buildings and from the fact that they were all constructed of bricks manufactured on the site. (k) The extent to which the place forms part of a wider historical and cultural complex or historical and cultural landscape: Several buildings are mentioned in the nomination form as being constructed from bricks manufactured at Quinn's brickworks. At the simplest level, then, Quinn's complex shares a wider link with these buildings. Conclusion: Quinn's Homestead, Farm and Brick Works Buildings, Makikihi is recommended for registration as a Category II as a place of historical and cultural heritage significance and value. This complex of seven buildings are constructed of bricks made on the premises, which gives the group something of a textural harmony. The complex also indirectly illustrates something of the social and cultural life of late-colonial, rural South Canterbury having been a venue for dances and other social activities, and a site of employment for transitory workers. The method of supply of clay to the brickworks illustrates the technology associated with a rural brickworks of this kind, and the actual composition of the bricks, in the extant foundations of the brickworks, holds an interest for local science. Finally, Quinn himself was an important person in late-colonial South Canterbury.