Blue Cliffs Homestead Station Complex

Back Line Road, Blue Cliffs, ST ANDREWS

Quick links:

Blue Cliffs Station is notable as one of the earliest runs taken up in South Canterbury. It has seen over 150 years of farming development with changes from the earliest years when pasturage licenses required an initial stocking of the extensive acres, achieved by some of the area's key pioneering figures. During the nineteenth century more intensive stocking, breeding and cultivation followed, with progressive improvements that continued in the twentieth century through to all the modern changes in techniques and a differing focus on new markets. In 1855 Jeannie Collier, the first woman to acquire South Canterbury land, took up the vast Otaio Run, from which 10,120 hectares (25,000 acres) granted to Henry Poindestre in 1856, formed the original core of Blue Cliffs. For ten years the property was well managed by Poindestre with increased sheep numbers and good production that made it a fine investment for John Hayhurst who owned it from 1866 to 1870. It was Hayhurst who chose a site for a homestead at the foot of the Hunter Hills and this was where the Station's nucleus has continued to be centred. Charles Meyer was the next owner from 1870 to 1879. He might have continued with his dreams for the property's development had his young wife not died suddenly, causing him to abandon life in New Zealand. It was in 1879 that Blue Cliffs was purchased by Robert Heaton Rhodes, beginning the distinguished family's association. The notable Rhodes brothers, Robert, William and George, had been pioneering farmers on Banks peninsula in the 1840s and then expanded their land holdings after the formal foundation of the Canterbury province in 1850. Robert Heaton Rhodes (Bob) was the son of George Rhodes who had established the first South Canterbury Sheep Station at the Levels in 1851. Rhodes farmed the Blue Cliffs property very effectively and was succeeded by his equally competent daughter Airini, who managed the Station with her husband Dr Philip Randall Woodhouse. As well as being recognized for their proficiency in many aspects of farming, all the owners of the property have demonstrated their civic consciousness, playing a prominent role in community affairs. The Blue Cliffs Homestead (1890) is the dominating building of this early South Canterbury sheep station complex. It was the third to serve as the home of the Station owner. In its size, planning and appearance it is a typical example of the life style which the province's pioneering families had achieved within the first four decades of settlement. Its historic values are enhanced by its near intact condition and collection of original furnishings. The large garden environs featuring mature trees have been retained and combine with the homestead to indicate the status of a successful nineteenth century pastoralist in Canterbury. Included in the group which forms the historic residential heart of Blue Cliff Station are the stables/carriage shed (1870s), the former laundry/dairy/apple shed (1870s) and the generator shed (1907). The Station, which now consists of 4,050 hectares, has been owned by the Rhodes/Woodhouse/Rolleston family since 1879, an unbroken link of 127 years. The historic domestic group that comprises the Blue Cliffs Station Homestead Complex illustrates the lifestyle of a late Victorian household as well as the status of a successful second generation pioneering farming family.

Blue Cliffs Station Homestead Complex, St Andrews | 17/07/2009 | Heritage New Zealand
Blue Cliffs Station Homestead Complex, St Andrews | 17/07/2009 | Heritage New Zealand
Blue Cliffs Station Homestead Complex, St Andrews | 17/07/2009 | Heritage New Zealand

Location

Loading

List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 2

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

7691

Date Entered

3rd March 2007

Date of Effect

3rd March 2007

City/District Council

Waimate District

Region

Canterbury Region

Extent of List Entry

Registration includes the Homestead, Stables/Carriage Shed, Laundry/Dairy/Apple Shed, and generator shed with their fixtures and fittings, and the part of Rural Section 10510 Canterbury Land District on which they stand. The garden, which forms the immediate environs on the homestead, is included within the boundary of the registered place.

Legal description

RS No. 10510 (RT CB8F/790), Canterbury Land District

Location Description

Rapid Number: 2894, Waimate (Rural Address Property Identification)

Stay up to date with Heritage this month