Why is this place significant?

Why is this place Category 1 / Category 2?

The history of large sheep runs such as Galloway Station dates to the earliest years of European settlement of Central Otago. Following the establishment of Dunedin in 1848, the Waste Lands Board was set up in 1853 to allocate pastoral runs in the country outside the original Otago Block. Many of these blocks were located in Central Otago, with those exploring this new country often applying for the first leases. In December 1857 the Shennan brothers, Watson (1835-1920) and Alexander (?-d.1862), paid a deposit of £20 to the Otago Waste Lands Board for Runs 220 and 221. They subsequently named the 28,000 acre Run 220 Galloway after their home district in Scotland, and the 12,000 acre Run 221 Moutere, the Maori name for a piece of land surrounded on three sides by water. The Waste Land Board required that the runs should be stocked within six months in order for the lease to be taken up. The Shennans, newly arrived from Scotland in 1857, accordingly procured ewes and lambs from a runholder in the Clutha district in late March 1858 and then proceeded on an epic journey of several weeks driving the sheep through a snowstorm to Galloway, the first run to be stocked in the Dunstan area. Their first attempts at establishing the station in the timber-less interior was to build with the local clay and stones, building a clay and stone chimney, and living under canvas. Building of yards and huts continued until shearing time. A depasturing licence was issued to the Shennans in June 1859, but by February 1860 the licence for Galloway passed to William Low, and shortly after Low appears to have gone into partnership with Robert Campbell of Otekaieke. Low also leased the Shag Valley Station about this time and used this property as a staging area when driving stock inland to Galloway Station, as did William Gilbert Rees when he had 3,000 Australian-bought sheep driven to his Lake Wakatipu run. The 10-roomed homestead was built in the 1860s to the design of William Low's wife, the daughter of Dr. Andrew Buchanan of Dunedin (her own name is not recorded), replacing an earlier house situated on the banks of the Manuherikia River that was abandoned following a series of high floods. The homestead forms a central component of the complex of farm buildings built during the early years of Galloway station. Other buildings, constructed of the same schist and standing together in a row, are the stables, with a dovecote built into a diminutive dormer window, a chaff house and the men's quarters. These are illustrated together in Thornton. Thornton describes the stables as "one of the most delightful in the whole of New Zealand." Land Information New Zealand archives relating to Galloway Station begin with a survey plan of the agricultural Pre-emptive Right No. 256 dated 1873, of the homestead block containing 62 acres. This plan shows the homestead itself, with the two gabled wings at either end, in an enclosed garden area. Two of the three farm buildings, the men's quarters and the stables, are identified just to the south west of the homestead garden, forming a complex of associated structures. The applicants named on this plan, Section 9 of Block VI, Tiger Hill district are Campbell and Low, confirming that Low was in partnership with Campbell at this time (other notes identify him as having sold to Campbell within a year or so, and remaining as manager only). Campbell is a significant figure in Otago history, as a businessman, runholder and politician. A certificate of title dated 1880 names Robert Campbell as the property holder, suggesting Low sold out to him at this point. At this time Campbell was an absentee landowner, his address given as Gloucestershire, England. In 1906 the title reverted to the Crown, Campbell transferring the title in this year to His Majesty the King. NZHPT file notes state that the early Queenstown settler W. G. Rees replaced Low as manager of the station, and that after Rees a succession of managers followed until the run was subdivided in 1916. In 1949 the Crown granted a license to Harold Preston under the 1924 Land Act. From this time the station license has remained with the Preston family, the name of one of this family appearing as one of the current licensees. The certificate of title states that the license was renewed for 33 years from 1/7/1990. This title includes the original pre-emptive right 256, being Section Nine of Block VI Tiger Hill containing the Homestead and Outbuildings.

Homestead The homestead is a long, low single-storied, U-plan dwelling. The two projecting gables have angled bay windows. The inside of the U has been partially filled in with a veranda and conservatory. The construction is random rubble, with large, shaped stones symmetrically placed at the corners. The rear wall has been plastered at some point, though much of the plaster has now weathered away. There is paving outside the rear wall and a small stone shed, probably a woodshed, near the back door. The interior of the house was not inspected. The approach to the house has a large circular driveway and the garden has a number of large old trees dating from the establishment of the homestead. A stone-lined culvert runs along the west side of the house, bridged by a path to the house. Outbuildings There are three farm outbuildings included in the registration: the Chaff House, Stables and Men's Quarters. All three are of random rubble schist construction, with large, shaped stones at the corners. This type of stone work, noted by Geoffrey Thornton in other early stone station buildings, uses huge stone slabs on edge at angles to form quoins. All three roofs are hipped and built without eaves or gutters. Men's Quarters The Men's Quarters are divided two rooms - a smaller room with a fireplace, possibly used as a cookhouse, at the south end, with an external door, and a larger room at the north end. The larger room has three six-light double-hung sash windows on the main (north east) elevation. The small room has had a single window in the north east elevation. There is a rear lean-to in a state of disrepair with a tree growing through the roof. The design of the Galloway men's quarters is closely replicated at the Ben Nevis homestead, where the men's quarters, of approximately the same dimensions, have the same configuration, without the rear lean-to. Single mens quarters, often combined with a cookshop, performed an essential function in the early days of large runs, housing the sometimes large numbers of men who worked on the stations. According to Thornton, "it was the custom for station staff to have their own quarters, sometimes located at a considerable distance from the homestead or 'big house'". These buildings were usually located in separate blocks, as is the case here. In some cases conditions in the men's quarters could be rather rough and uncomfortable. Chaff house This is a small roughly square-plan single-storied building. It has a hipped corrugated iron roof. There is a single door to the north east elevation. Stone work on the south west elevation reveals an earlier doorway which has been filled in. Two walls remain with the original finish to the stone. Attempts have been made to repair or restore the stonework on two of the walls, in quite disparate styles. The front has had hard plaster pointing applied in relief, creating a mosaic effect over the random rubble. On the south wall, a decorative struck line has been applied in an attempt to bring the random rubble construction to course. In the days before mechanized farming, when horses were essential for farm work, chaff houses were needed to store chaff for horse feed. Stable The Stable is a single storied stone building with a hipped corrugated iron roof and a lean-to to the rear. The main north east elevation has a large central stable door, flanked on either side by two narrow four-light double-hung sash windows. This elevation has a small wooden dove cote built into a gabled dormer on the roof. The building has a side door on the south east elevation. Stables played an important role from the beginning of the development of pastoralism in the region, when horses were used for a number of essential tasks. In addition to ploughing they were necessary for mustering and also as a means of transport, both for riding and for drawing a number of different farm vehicles such as the buggy and carriage, as well as the hay wagon and farm dray. Horses such as shires and Clydesdales worked in teams of as many as eight horses drawing wagons, drays and other equipment; all these horses, as well as hacks and racing stock required suitable stabling, where they were fed, groomed, harnessed and sheltered. Comparison According to Stephenson et al, Galloway Station was one of the 'big five' stations of Central Otago. The others were Earnscleugh, Morven Hills, Kawarau, and Moutere. The names of early Galloway station owners form a network of those who were involved in the history of many of the significant stations in Central Otago, such as the neighbouring Moutere and also Shag Valley. Kawarau Station Homestead and Woolshed, dating from a similar period are proposed for a Category I registration, as are the Shag Valley Station Buildings. Moutere Station Woolshed is registered as a Category I historic place. Its homestead and outbuildings were identified as having deficient registrations. Morven Hills Station Woolshed and Earnscleugh Station Homestead are registered as a Category I historic places (No.53, and No.7405 respectively). Galloway is of comparable status to all these properties. Like them, Galloway dates from the first period of European settlement in Central Otago, and like Kawarau, Shag Valley and Moutere it shows the range of buildings required for a functioning station. For these reasons, and its association with prominent individuals such as Watson Shennan and Robert Campbell, it is worthy of registration as a Category I historic place.

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Other Information

A fully referenced registration report is available from the NZHPT Otago/Southland Area office Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rarangi Korero identifies only the heritage values of the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary conditions.