The Dispatch Foundry in Greymouth consists of a collection of buildings, the earliest of which dates from 1907. The company for which they were built, the Dispatch Foundry & Co. Ltd, was established in 1873 by John Sewell and A.B. Hughes. Sewell, a Scottish engineer, arrived in Greymouth in 1869, when he delivered the tug 'Dispatch' from Britain for a local company. He established a small engineering business in his backyard and in 1873 was joined by Hughes, a pattern maker and friend from Scotland. The two established an iron and brass foundry in Greymouth, on land provided by William Rae, a local timber merchant. They advertised themselves as 'Engineers, Mill Wrights, Iron and Brass Founders' who could do 'Smiths' Work and Castings of all descriptions, Horse Powers, Chaff Cutters, Steam Engines, Turbines, Water-power Engines, Quartz-crushers, Crab-winches made and repaired. Turbine and Fluming Piping in wrought or cast iron of any size'. Hughes withdrew from the firm shortly after its establishment and Sewell and Rae became partners. The Reefton boom in quartz mining meant the foundry prospered, and in order to gain the capital needed to expand its operations the partners offered shares in the company in 1875.
The foundry was first housed in three small wooden buildings. By 1923 the works covered over an acre (approximately 0.4 hectares) of land and the works had their own railway siding from 1900. Of the buildings included in this registration the oldest still standing is the pattern store, built in 1907. This two-storey building is constructed in brick and was physically separated from the other foundry buildings in order to protect the wooden patterns stored there from the threat of fire. In recent years the exterior of this building has been roughcast, to protect the bricks. The main building was built in two stages, the first in 1910-1911, and the second, which houses the boiler shop, during 1936. Percy Hambleton, who designed the first stage of the main building in 1910, was the general manager of the Dispatch Foundry from 1906 until his death in 1953 and others of his family worked at and managed the company from 1889 until 1989.
A brick motor-shop (90 ft by 57 ft or 27m by 17m) was added to the complex in 1915 to cater for the growing car business. The paint store attached to the motor shop was replaced by a steel storeroom in 1927. Later alterations and additions to the complex include a concrete block office building, erected in 1974, which stands between the main building and the motor-shop. A reinforcing steel store was erected in 1970 and this was extended in 1984.
The Dispatch Foundry has been intimately involved with the history of the major West Coast industries since its foundation. It manufactured girders for bridges, stamper batteries, pipes and nozzles for ground sluicing, gold dredges, sawmills, log haulers, small bush locomotives, and manufactured parts for the Midland Railway Line. The firm's complex of buildings has expanded and changed with the growth of the company and now includes an entire workshop devoted to the manufacture of rotary milking platforms, reflecting the recent growth in the New Zealand dairy industry. The Dispatch Foundry has been, over the years, one of the largest private employers in Greymouth and thus played a major role in the history of the town. Its establishment freed the West Coast from having to import goods from overseas and therefore the foundry was significant for its role in the development of the mining and timber industries of the West Coast. Now known as Dispatch & Garlick Ltd, the firm is one of the oldest on the West Coast and its group of buildings is a distinctive landmark in Greymouth.
The foundry was first housed in three small wooden buildings. By 1923 the works covered over an acre (approximately 0.4 hectares) of land and the works had their own railway siding from 1900. Of the buildings included in this registration the oldest still standing is the pattern store, built in 1907. This two-storey building is constructed in brick and was physically separated from the other foundry buildings in order to protect the wooden patterns stored there from the threat of fire. In recent years the exterior of this building has been roughcast, to protect the bricks. The main building was built in two stages, the first in 1910-1911, and the second, which houses the boiler shop, during 1936. Percy Hambleton, who designed the first stage of the main building in 1910, was the general manager of the Dispatch Foundry from 1906 until his death in 1953 and others of his family worked at and managed the company from 1889 until 1989.
A brick motor-shop (90 ft by 57 ft or 27m by 17m) was added to the complex in 1915 to cater for the growing car business. The paint store attached to the motor shop was replaced by a steel storeroom in 1927. Later alterations and additions to the complex include a concrete block office building, erected in 1974, which stands between the main building and the motor-shop. A reinforcing steel store was erected in 1970 and this was extended in 1984.
The Dispatch Foundry has been intimately involved with the history of the major West Coast industries since its foundation. It manufactured girders for bridges, stamper batteries, pipes and nozzles for ground sluicing, gold dredges, sawmills, log haulers, small bush locomotives, and manufactured parts for the Midland Railway Line. The firm's complex of buildings has expanded and changed with the growth of the company and now includes an entire workshop devoted to the manufacture of rotary milking platforms, reflecting the recent growth in the New Zealand dairy industry. The Dispatch Foundry has been, over the years, one of the largest private employers in Greymouth and thus played a major role in the history of the town. Its establishment freed the West Coast from having to import goods from overseas and therefore the foundry was significant for its role in the development of the mining and timber industries of the West Coast. Now known as Dispatch & Garlick Ltd, the firm is one of the oldest on the West Coast and its group of buildings is a distinctive landmark in Greymouth.
