Palmerston Street Cottages Historic Area

82, 84, 86 Palmerston Street (State Highway 99), RIVERTON / APARIMA

Quick links:

Dating from the 1870s, this neat row of three cottages on Riverton / Aparima’s main street forms a notable local landmark and is a representative collection of the typical New Zealand ‘box cottage’ that was popular from the mid to the late nineteenth century. Riverton / Aparima is the oldest permanent European settlement in Southland. After it was surveyed in 1858, prominent local citizen Theophilus Daniel (1817-1893) obtained the land on which the Palmerston Street Cottages were to stand. The 1870s were a period of development in Riverton / Aparima that saw the diversification of local industries, and the construction of its first schools and churches. The cottages are thought to have been constructed by Daniel for sale in 1875 but were definitely in use in the 1870s. After the sale, two of the cottages were used for housing and one may have been used as a shop until the 1920s. The cottages continue to be used as private residences. These simple houses are typical of the basic housing style popular in New Zealand in the second half of the nineteenth century and, from the street front, they form a tightly grouped homogenous collection. These simple box cottages feature a central door that lead directly into the main living space and windows on either side of the door and a gable roof. It was anticipated that from these humble beginnings, owners could expand from this basic form over time, and this has been the case with the Palmerston Street Cottages. They are distinguished from each other by individual verandah and fenestration styles. Although much of the original fabric of these buildings has been gradually replaced, their on-going fidelity to the general precepts and form of the basic box cottage is of architectural value. The three cottages are attractively simple in design and the grouping is of aesthetic value in the streetscape. They are of architectural importance as representative examples of the once typical New Zealand ‘box cottage’ and of the housing style in use in the period when Riverton / Aparima was developing into an established town.

Palmerston Street Cottages Historic Area | Chris Horwell | 11/10/2012 | NZ Historic Places Trust
Palmerston Street Cottages Historic Area. No. 84 | Chris Horwell | 11/10/2012 | NZ Historic Places Trust
Palmerston Street Cottages Historic Area. No. 82 | Chris Horwell | 11/10/2012 | NZ Historic Places Trust

Location

Loading

List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Area

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

7818

Date Entered

12th December 2011

Date of Effect

12th December 2011

City/District Council

Southland District

Region

Southland Region

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes the land described as Lot 2 DP 1776 (RT SL106/299); Lot 1 DP 1776 (RT SL8D/649); Pt Sec 7-8 Blk VIII Town of Riverton / Aparima (RT SL6/217), Southland Land District, and the following historic places: Houses, 82, 84, and 86 Palmerston Street. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the registration report for further information).

Legal description

Lot 2 DP 1776 (RT SL106/299); Lot 1 DP 1776 (RT SL8D/649); Pt Sec 7-8 Blk VIII Town of Riverton / Aparima (RT SL6/217), Southland Land District

Location Description

The row of cottages is on the northwest side of the main road through Riverton / Aparima, in the northern half of the block located between Delhi and Princess Streets.

Stay up to date with Heritage this month