List Entry Information
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
3960
Date Entered
21st September 1989
Date of Effect
21st September 1989
City/District Council
Masterton District
Region
Wellington Region
Extent of List Entry
Extent includes part of the land described as Pt Lot 4 DP 7674 (RT WN20A/1438), Pt Sec 5 Tauweru Dist (No title), Pt Lot 15 DP 1552 (RT WN54D/477), Wellington Land District, and the structure known as Rabbit Fence thereon.
Legal description
Pt Lot 4 DP 7674 (RT WN20A/1438), Pt Sec 5 Tauweru Dist (No title), and Pt Lot 15 DP 1552 (RT WN54D/477), Wellington Land District
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
3960
Date Entered
21st September 1989
Date of Effect
21st September 1989
City/District Council
Masterton District
Region
Wellington Region
Extent of List Entry
Extent includes part of the land described as Pt Lot 4 DP 7674 (RT WN20A/1438), Pt Sec 5 Tauweru Dist (No title), Pt Lot 15 DP 1552 (RT WN54D/477), Wellington Land District, and the structure known as Rabbit Fence thereon.
Legal description
Pt Lot 4 DP 7674 (RT WN20A/1438), Pt Sec 5 Tauweru Dist (No title), and Pt Lot 15 DP 1552 (RT WN54D/477), Wellington Land District
Why is this place significant?
Historic Significance
Historical Significance or Value This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. This report includes the text from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. From the 1870s the spread of introduced rabbits in New Zealand was very rapid, and by the 1880s there were 12,000 acres of infested land in the Wairarapa. The effect of the 'rabbit plague' on sheep farming was disastrous. At first control measures were not co-ordinated nationally, but 1876 legislation provided for the establishment of rabbit districts. This system had only limited success in controlling rabbit numbers and new legislation (1882) provided for stronger control, including the strategy of rabbit-proof fencing on a larger scale. The Omahu rabbit fence is all that remains of one of the first fences, which was originally 40 miles long. Fences as a passive control measure were popular for only a short time, until biological control by the use of natural predators was attempted. No effective control was achieved until the decommercialisation of the rabbit under the 1947 legislation. The rabbit fences of the 1880s are an important reminder of the attempts of the early settlers to solve a problem which threatened the very basis of New Zealand's economic productivity.
Physical Significance
This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. This report includes the text from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. SIGNIFICANCE OF CONSTRUCTION METHOD: Rabbit fences constructed of totara palings were restricted to areas where such wood was plentiful. The embedding of the palings in the ground was intended to prevent rabbits from burrowing underneath. LANDSCAPE SIGNIFICANCE: The height and length of this remnant of the original rabbit fence is a feature of the landscape of this part of the Wairarapa.
Why is this place significant?
Historic Significance
Historical Significance or Value This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. This report includes the text from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. From the 1870s the spread of introduced rabbits in New Zealand was very rapid, and by the 1880s there were 12,000 acres of infested land in the Wairarapa. The effect of the 'rabbit plague' on sheep farming was disastrous. At first control measures were not co-ordinated nationally, but 1876 legislation provided for the establishment of rabbit districts. This system had only limited success in controlling rabbit numbers and new legislation (1882) provided for stronger control, including the strategy of rabbit-proof fencing on a larger scale. The Omahu rabbit fence is all that remains of one of the first fences, which was originally 40 miles long. Fences as a passive control measure were popular for only a short time, until biological control by the use of natural predators was attempted. No effective control was achieved until the decommercialisation of the rabbit under the 1947 legislation. The rabbit fences of the 1880s are an important reminder of the attempts of the early settlers to solve a problem which threatened the very basis of New Zealand's economic productivity.
Physical Significance
This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. This report includes the text from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. SIGNIFICANCE OF CONSTRUCTION METHOD: Rabbit fences constructed of totara palings were restricted to areas where such wood was plentiful. The embedding of the palings in the ground was intended to prevent rabbits from burrowing underneath. LANDSCAPE SIGNIFICANCE: The height and length of this remnant of the original rabbit fence is a feature of the landscape of this part of the Wairarapa.
Construction Details
Start Year
1881
Finish Year
1882
Type
Original Construction
Construction Materials
Split totara palings 1.5m long stacked closely together in an upright position with lower end embedded in the ground, and kept in position by means of pairs of interwoven wires and normal fence posts at intervals, the whole designed to make a rabbit-proof structure. Present length is c.750m, although it was originally part of a much larger structure.
Notable Features
Construction details of totara slabs and interwoven wire.
Construction Details
Start Year
1881
Finish Year
1882
Type
Original Construction
Construction Materials
Split totara palings 1.5m long stacked closely together in an upright position with lower end embedded in the ground, and kept in position by means of pairs of interwoven wires and normal fence posts at intervals, the whole designed to make a rabbit-proof structure. Present length is c.750m, although it was originally part of a much larger structure.
Notable Features
Construction details of totara slabs and interwoven wire.
This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. This report includes the text from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Split totara palings 1.5m long stacked closely together in an upright position with lower end embedded in the ground, and kept in position by means of pairs of interwoven wires and normal fence posts at intervals, the whole designed to make a rabbit-proof structure. Present length is c.750m, although it was originally part of a much larger structure. MODIFICATIONS: None, except for loss of totara length.
This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. This report includes the text from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Split totara palings 1.5m long stacked closely together in an upright position with lower end embedded in the ground, and kept in position by means of pairs of interwoven wires and normal fence posts at intervals, the whole designed to make a rabbit-proof structure. Present length is c.750m, although it was originally part of a much larger structure. MODIFICATIONS: None, except for loss of totara length.
Historical and Associated Iwi / Hapū / Whānau
Completion Date
14th April 1989
Information Sources
Bagnall, 1976
A. G. Bagnall, Wairarapa; An Historical Excursion, Trentham, 1976
Dominion
Dominion, 16 Jul 1915, p. 9.
Evening Post
Evening Post, 27 Jun 1919, p.7.
Thornton, 1986
Geoffrey Thornton, The New Zealand Heritage of Farm Buildings, Auckland, 1986
Breese, 1982
E.D. Breese, The Past, Present and Future of the Rabbit Nuisance in New Zealand. Diploma of Natural Resources dissertation (unpublished, Lincoln: 1982).
McLean, 1966
W.H. McLean, Rabbits Galore (Auckland: 1966)
New Zealand's Heritage: The Making of a Nation
New Zealand’s Heritage: The Making of a Nation
Other Information
A copy of this report is available from the NZHPT Central Region 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.
Historical and Associated Iwi / Hapū / Whānau
Completion Date
14th April 1989
Information Sources
Bagnall, 1976
A. G. Bagnall, Wairarapa; An Historical Excursion, Trentham, 1976
Dominion
Dominion, 16 Jul 1915, p. 9.
Evening Post
Evening Post, 27 Jun 1919, p.7.
Thornton, 1986
Geoffrey Thornton, The New Zealand Heritage of Farm Buildings, Auckland, 1986
Breese, 1982
E.D. Breese, The Past, Present and Future of the Rabbit Nuisance in New Zealand. Diploma of Natural Resources dissertation (unpublished, Lincoln: 1982).
McLean, 1966
W.H. McLean, Rabbits Galore (Auckland: 1966)
New Zealand's Heritage: The Making of a Nation
New Zealand’s Heritage: The Making of a Nation
Other Information
A copy of this report is available from the NZHPT Central Region 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.
Former Usages
General Usage: Agriculture
Specific Usage: Rabbit fence
Former Usages
General Usage: Agriculture
Specific Usage: Rabbit fence
