Built in Italianate style sitting prominently on the corner of Earne and Leven Streets in the small Maniototo settlement of Naseby, are the former Maniototo County Council Offices. Built in 1878 and designed by County Engineer Richard Browne, the Offices stand as a testament to the importance of the development of local government in the nineteenth century.
In 1852 the British Parliament passed the New Zealand Constitution Act allowing the colony to become basically self-governing in domestic matters, and provided for provincial governments, with elected councils and superintendents. In 1876 the Provincial Government system was abolished and the General Government hastily passed the Counties Act to provide an administrative system to replace it. The Act divided the country into sixty three Counties. Maniototo County covered a large and isolated area.
The County Council was the focus of administration for its district. Its first efforts were in road and bridge building, and at water works. From 1882 the council took over the forestry reserve in White Sow Valley. The Council encouraged economic development, particularly prospecting, setting up a special committee to provide grants for hopeful miners. They lobbied central government on matters of concern to miners, and also on the establishment of the Central Otago Railway in the 1870s, an issue of huge import to all Central Otago residents, and ironically, for all Naseby’s enthusiasm, the herald of its demise.
The County Council had many well known personalities, the most notable among them being M.J. Scobie Mackenzie (1845-1901). St Bathans mine manager John Ewing was also one of the key figures in Central Otago as a whole. Richard Browne was a key figure in the Maniototo County Council as County Engineer. He drew up plans and specifications for the new Council Offices. Contractor George Stephens completed the building in August 1878. Though Naseby went into a slow decline in the early twentieth century it was not until 1936 did the County Council relocate its services to nearby Ranfurly.
The old building was bought by the Maniototo Early Settlers’ Association which had been formed in 1910. Local officials seem to have been aware of the potential historical status of the district as early as 1881 when the first County Chairman, Mr Rolland, moved that a museum be formed. Association formed with a social focus also worked on developing a museum, though activities for early settlers remained important. The Association endeavoured to ‘build up and house a collection of relics, photographs, writings and verse appertaining to the short to the early history of the Maniototo.’ The Museum is part of the social infrastructure of the small settlement, with the town’s heritage a focus of local community identity and an essential element in the perception of the town as a ‘special place.’
The former Maniototo County Council Offices are located on Leven Street, the main commercial street in the small Central Otago town of Naseby. The building sits on a corner site and fronts directly to both Leven and Earne Streets. The Maniototo County Council Offices is a single storey timber building, rectangular in plan. The original rusticated timber cladding, with corners picked out in timber quoins, has been covered with stucco, and the balustrade reconstructed. The arched windows and arched doorway supported by pilasters with Byzantine capitals and the door opening with a semicircular fanlight remain. A concrete block addition on the rear wall provides storage for the museum collection. The interior consists of the former Council chamber and staff office now used to display museum artefacts. The interior walls are lath and plaster, with varnished tongue and groove dado panelling. The former Council Chamber grander in proportion, with the timber panelled ceiling ornamented with plaster ceiling roses.
The former Maniototo County Council Offices has historical significance telling the history of Naseby’s development as a borough. Built in the heyday of the town’s pre-eminence in the Maniototo, the building on its prominent site reflects the importance of the Council’s role which involved promoting the development of infrastructure. In addition the Offices have significance as the home of the Maniototo Early Settlers Association Museum which holds a significant collection that provides insight into the community’s own creation of its history. Architecturally it is a good example of an official building in Italianate style and is a prominent element in the historic streetscape of Naseby.
In 2010 the former County Council Offices remains the home of the Maniototo Early Settlers’ Association Museum, whose collection includes household and personal items from early settlers, as well as early newspapers and local records, and where the mode of display with its wooden cases, framed photographs and hand written labels provide a glimpse into the minds of Naseby’s early settlers.
In 1852 the British Parliament passed the New Zealand Constitution Act allowing the colony to become basically self-governing in domestic matters, and provided for provincial governments, with elected councils and superintendents. In 1876 the Provincial Government system was abolished and the General Government hastily passed the Counties Act to provide an administrative system to replace it. The Act divided the country into sixty three Counties. Maniototo County covered a large and isolated area.
The County Council was the focus of administration for its district. Its first efforts were in road and bridge building, and at water works. From 1882 the council took over the forestry reserve in White Sow Valley. The Council encouraged economic development, particularly prospecting, setting up a special committee to provide grants for hopeful miners. They lobbied central government on matters of concern to miners, and also on the establishment of the Central Otago Railway in the 1870s, an issue of huge import to all Central Otago residents, and ironically, for all Naseby’s enthusiasm, the herald of its demise.
The County Council had many well known personalities, the most notable among them being M.J. Scobie Mackenzie (1845-1901). St Bathans mine manager John Ewing was also one of the key figures in Central Otago as a whole. Richard Browne was a key figure in the Maniototo County Council as County Engineer. He drew up plans and specifications for the new Council Offices. Contractor George Stephens completed the building in August 1878. Though Naseby went into a slow decline in the early twentieth century it was not until 1936 did the County Council relocate its services to nearby Ranfurly.
The old building was bought by the Maniototo Early Settlers’ Association which had been formed in 1910. Local officials seem to have been aware of the potential historical status of the district as early as 1881 when the first County Chairman, Mr Rolland, moved that a museum be formed. Association formed with a social focus also worked on developing a museum, though activities for early settlers remained important. The Association endeavoured to ‘build up and house a collection of relics, photographs, writings and verse appertaining to the short to the early history of the Maniototo.’ The Museum is part of the social infrastructure of the small settlement, with the town’s heritage a focus of local community identity and an essential element in the perception of the town as a ‘special place.’
The former Maniototo County Council Offices are located on Leven Street, the main commercial street in the small Central Otago town of Naseby. The building sits on a corner site and fronts directly to both Leven and Earne Streets. The Maniototo County Council Offices is a single storey timber building, rectangular in plan. The original rusticated timber cladding, with corners picked out in timber quoins, has been covered with stucco, and the balustrade reconstructed. The arched windows and arched doorway supported by pilasters with Byzantine capitals and the door opening with a semicircular fanlight remain. A concrete block addition on the rear wall provides storage for the museum collection. The interior consists of the former Council chamber and staff office now used to display museum artefacts. The interior walls are lath and plaster, with varnished tongue and groove dado panelling. The former Council Chamber grander in proportion, with the timber panelled ceiling ornamented with plaster ceiling roses.
The former Maniototo County Council Offices has historical significance telling the history of Naseby’s development as a borough. Built in the heyday of the town’s pre-eminence in the Maniototo, the building on its prominent site reflects the importance of the Council’s role which involved promoting the development of infrastructure. In addition the Offices have significance as the home of the Maniototo Early Settlers Association Museum which holds a significant collection that provides insight into the community’s own creation of its history. Architecturally it is a good example of an official building in Italianate style and is a prominent element in the historic streetscape of Naseby.
In 2010 the former County Council Offices remains the home of the Maniototo Early Settlers’ Association Museum, whose collection includes household and personal items from early settlers, as well as early newspapers and local records, and where the mode of display with its wooden cases, framed photographs and hand written labels provide a glimpse into the minds of Naseby’s early settlers.
