Briarley, situated between Tamahere and Matangi, is a rare example in the Waikato of a surviving farm house from the late 1870s and relates to the period immediately following the settlement of the area by Europeans after the confiscations from Tainui in 1864. Tangata whenua Ngati Haua were given back the land as individual titles, and sold these to European settlers who developed pastoral farming with mixed cropping, dairy and sheep over the following decades. The allotment on which Briarley was built was one of several bought by absentee British owner John Abraham Tinne ( -1884), his two sons farming the large (over 400 hectares) property from late 1876 to 1881.
Briarley was built between late 1876 and late 1879, being well-established with several outbuildings including a cottage, orchards and plantations by early 1880. The architect and builder have not been identified. The house is a villa design with two bay windows, a central hallway and a verandah that extended along two sides. It is situated on a low hill close to a gully and immediately adjacent to the site of a Maori pa.
The house was extended with the addition of a small room in the 1920s. Minor internal changes were undertaken in the late 1940s and again in the 1980s-90s, with the current owners recently restoring the fabric and undertaking maintenance and repairs. After 1881 Briarley was farmed by a succession of tenants, some of whom owned property elsewhere in the Tamahere-Matangi area, until sold by the Tinne family in 1906. The property followed the pattern of other Waikato farms, being subdivided into smaller units more suited to dairying. From the mid 1930s to 1980 Briarley was owned and occupied by the Bourke family and thereafter leased out. The land associated with the house is now much reduced as it forms part of a residential subdivision.
Briarley is significant in being a rare surviving example of a farm house from the first period of European settlement of the Tamahere-Matangi area following the land wars. It has remained in fairly original condition with only one structural change. Some of the owners or occupiers of Briarley were prominent in the development of the local infrastructure, the Cambridge Farmers Club and the local dairy, sheep and horticulture industries. One owner, Tom Bryant, was one of the first European farmers in the area; he was involved with the establishment of the Matangi dairy factory and was a director of the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company Limited for many years. The Bourke family who owned Briarley for 50 years and ran a dairy herd on the property were strong contributors to local social, church, sporting and welfare affairs and they and their house were held in high esteem by the local community. Bill Bourke was on the committee involved with running the Matangi dairy factory. The house is still known locally as ‘the Bourke’s house’.
Briarley was built between late 1876 and late 1879, being well-established with several outbuildings including a cottage, orchards and plantations by early 1880. The architect and builder have not been identified. The house is a villa design with two bay windows, a central hallway and a verandah that extended along two sides. It is situated on a low hill close to a gully and immediately adjacent to the site of a Maori pa.
The house was extended with the addition of a small room in the 1920s. Minor internal changes were undertaken in the late 1940s and again in the 1980s-90s, with the current owners recently restoring the fabric and undertaking maintenance and repairs. After 1881 Briarley was farmed by a succession of tenants, some of whom owned property elsewhere in the Tamahere-Matangi area, until sold by the Tinne family in 1906. The property followed the pattern of other Waikato farms, being subdivided into smaller units more suited to dairying. From the mid 1930s to 1980 Briarley was owned and occupied by the Bourke family and thereafter leased out. The land associated with the house is now much reduced as it forms part of a residential subdivision.
Briarley is significant in being a rare surviving example of a farm house from the first period of European settlement of the Tamahere-Matangi area following the land wars. It has remained in fairly original condition with only one structural change. Some of the owners or occupiers of Briarley were prominent in the development of the local infrastructure, the Cambridge Farmers Club and the local dairy, sheep and horticulture industries. One owner, Tom Bryant, was one of the first European farmers in the area; he was involved with the establishment of the Matangi dairy factory and was a director of the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company Limited for many years. The Bourke family who owned Briarley for 50 years and ran a dairy herd on the property were strong contributors to local social, church, sporting and welfare affairs and they and their house were held in high esteem by the local community. Bill Bourke was on the committee involved with running the Matangi dairy factory. The house is still known locally as ‘the Bourke’s house’.
