Clark's Mill Complex

1017 Alma-Maheno Road (State Highway One), MAHENO

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Clark's Mill Complex, built in 1866 in the North Otago town of Maheno, is New Zealand's only surviving water-powered flourmill. First known as the Kakanui Flour and Oatmeal Mill, the mill was built for early settlers Matthew Holmes and Henry Campbell. It began operating in 1867 under the ownership of the New Zealand and Australian Land Company. The first millers to lease the mill were James Anderson and Andrew Mowat, who already had a large Dunedin milling operation. The heavy machinery for the mill was brought to New Zealand by sailing ship from the United Kingdom, Australia and United States in the 1860s and 1870s. Wheat and oats were ground using horizontal grinding stones, which were powered by an 'overshot' waterwheel. Anderson leased the mill alone from 1876 before miller Daniel Forrest took it over in 1880. During the 1880s the way in which the mill worked was altered; the wheat was ground by roller machinery powered by water turbines, rather than by grinding stones. Despite this investment, the business was not turning a profit. In 1901, the New Zealand and Australian Land Company was relieved to sell the complex to the enterprising Alexander Clark and his brothers in 1901, after whom the Mill is now known. The Mill remained in Clark ownership for the next seventy five years. The Clarks modernised the machinery at the mill, their last major overhaul closing the mill for a year in 1948. After two generations, in December 1976 the mill ceased operating, and was sold to the Northern Roller Milling Co, who auctioned the Mill a month later. Clark’s Mill Complex was bought by the NZHPT. Its restoration was the biggest project the NZHPT had undertaken at the time. In recent years the Mill has been regularly open to the public. The Mill was designed by eminent Edinburgh engineer James Balfour Melville. Built from Oamaru limestone cut from a nearby hill, the four-storey Mill is a simple, striking building typical of the mills constructed North Otago in the mid-nineteenth century. It houses a significant and rare collection of working mill machinery dating from the nineteenth century through to the post-war period. The Mill includes the original mill race, which runs from the intake gate at the Kakanui River through a tunnel carved in an outcrop of stone and along a stone-lined channel. It also features the railway siding that was built in 1877 to connect the mill to the main trunk line, and former store buildings dating from the 1870s. The millers were housed in the miller’s house and a cottage. Originally very similar, these two residences were built from Oamaru stone around the same time as the Mill. The cottage, now known as Smokey Joes, is largely unaltered. The miller’s house has since been converted into an L-shaped bungalow. The close proximity of the two buildings, one original and one modified, clearly demonstrate how the miller’s house has changed over time. Clark’s Mill Complex is of outstanding historical and physical significance. The Mill is a unique representation of the rise and decline of wheat growing and flour milling in North Otago, an industry that was central to the district’s economy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It has special historical value as one of the earliest mills in the area and it continued to operate and expand for nearly 110 years, half a century after most contemporary, local mills had closed down. It reflects its long history through its very rare and technologically significant collection of working machinery, and in the cumulative architectural development of its buildings. Built of the Oamaru stone which surrounds the complex, the mill building is of architectural and aesthetic significance. The Mill Complex, set against the limestone escarpments typical of North Otago, remains an impressive and imposing historical landmark. It has an impressively solid and imposing presence and has defined the site for nearly a century and a half.

Clark's Mill Complex, Maheno | Elaine Marland | 04/04/2018 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
Clark's Mill Complex, Maheno | Grant Sheehan | 11/12/2016 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
Clark's Mill Complex, Maheno | Grant Sheehan | 11/12/2016 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
Clark's Mill Complex, Maheno. Interior of Clark's Flourmill | Grant Sheehan | 11/12/2016 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
Clark's Mill Complex, Maheno. Interior of Clark's Flourmill | Grant Sheehan | 11/12/2016 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
Clark's Mill Complex, Maheno. The Miller's House and Cottage (now known as Smokey Joes) | Elaine Marland | 04/04/2018 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 1

Access

Able to Visit

List Number

346

Date Entered

11th November 1981

Date of Effect

11th November 1981

City/District Council

Waitaki District

Region

Otago Region

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes the land described Pt Lot A DP 1545 (RT OT230/58), and Lot 167-170 DP 313 (RT OT140/175), and Sec 811R Blk VII Oamaru SD (RT OT151/10) and Lot 1-3 DP 4254 (RT OT257/151), part Main South Line, and part Alma-Maheno Road (State Highway I), Otago Land District, and the buildings and structures associated with Clark's Mill Complex thereon, and their fittings and fixtures and the associated chattels (refer to Appendix 1-2 of the registration report for further information).

Legal description

Pt Lot A DP 1545 (RT OT230/58), and Lot 167-170 DP 313 (RT OT140/175), and Sec 811R Blk VII Oamaru SD (RT OT151/10) and Lot 1-3 DP 4254 (RT OT257/151), part of the Main South Line, and part Alma-Maheno Road (State Highway I), Otago Land District

Location Description

To the east of State Highway One between Maheno and Reidston in North Otago

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