Maori History
The Waihemo River Valley, inland from Palmerston in North Otago provided a route for a Maori trail to the Maniototo and onto the Southern Lakes, now known as the Pig Root. Remains of moa hunting camps were noted on the nearby Kakanui Range. Oven and midden sites with associated artefacts were also found. Herries Beattie suggests that the original form of the name may be been Matau-kareao (matua – fish hook; kareao – supplejack). There are a number of umu sites in the valleys around the Blue Mountains showing that the area was significant for iwi.
The old Makareao lime works are located on the edge of the Waihemo Valley, a major travel route for Maori linking the coast with the interior, as State Highway 87 does today. While no comprehensive archaeological field surveys have been carried out in the Waihemo Valley, several archaeological sites are recorded on the New Zealand Archaeological Association scheme. These indicate the harvesting of natural resources, especially around Blue Mountain where the lime works are sited. No archaeological sites of Maori origin are known around the actual lime works.
Moa-bones found during the lime kiln construction highlight the former presence of moa naturally in the area, and a site containing moa-bones and taonga typical of the ‘Moa-hunter’ period is recorded at the mouth of Blue Mountain stream (I43/28). A Dentalium shell necklace also typical of this period (D43.1501 in Otago Museum) was found ‘in a cave near Dunback’ (Skinner ‘Comparatively Speaking’, 1974 p.86) and adzes from Camp Armstrong at ‘The Narrows’ (D.29.1787)and ‘Dunback’ (D.57.3) show that people were active in the area from relatively early times. Moa bones were often used as a source of lime for lime works in nineteenth century New Zealand.
To the south of the lime works numerous umu and a rock-art site (I42/8) are known on and around Blue Mountain. At least six umu (oven) sites are known along the banks of Blue Mountain Stream. Some of these are possibly umu too judging by the three metre to three and half metre diameter and the presence of numerous cabbage trees nearby. Another nine umu sites at least are known in the hills around Blue Mountain Stream, including the southern slopes of Blue Mountain.
This relatively high density of archaeological sites appears to indicate the prolonged harvesting of mahika kai in the Blue Mountain area by Maori, which should be expected given the presence of permanent villages of all ages nearby and on the adjoining coast. It seems likely the Registration area around the lime works was well frequented by Maori, while no archaeological material of cultural interest reflecting this is known.
Pastoralism
The land in Shag Valley to the north-west of where the Makaraeo Lime Works are located was first taken up by pastoralists in the latter years of the 1850s. Whaler, businessman and landowner John Jones took up land there, with others following in his wake. Francis Dillon Bell took up Shag Valley Station, and later the land became part of what was known as Makareao Estate, associated with Waihemo Grange and its owners the Kitchener family. Following the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Kitchener in 1894, the property was left in trust.
Waihemo Grange estate was put up for auction on 8 June 1895. The sale attracted a large number of farmers but few bids were received and the reserve was not met. The Grange was offered to the Government under the Lands for Settlement Act 1895 but initially was declined. Negotiations must have eventually concluded successfully, for it was reported in the Otago Witness on 25 June 1896 the particulars for the disposal of 2144 acres of the Makareao Estate, previously known as the Waihemo Grange Estate. The ballot for sections on the Makareao Estate took place in July 1896. There was considerable interest and the sections were sold. With the sale of the estate there was local interest in the exploitation of the lime known to be on the property.
Lime and Pastoralism
Lime has long been used for agricultural and building purposes. Early New Zealand settlers burnt limestone in kilns reducing the calcium carbonate (CaC03) to calcium oxide (CaO). Calcium oxide was known as quick lime, burnt lime, caustic lime (or just ‘lime’). Lime was spread onto paddocks where the rain and the acid nature of the soil broke it down, improving the condition of the soil, boosting plant growth. For the first century of New Zealand farming the application of burnt lime was a crucial farming practice.
Lime burning was a simple process. There were a number of different types of kilns, which reflected the developing technology as well as the developing markets for lime. The simplest process was a pit where fuel was layered with limestone or shell and burnt. Intermittent kilns (which had various physical forms) were loaded, fired and emptied of their load each time. They were expensive in labour, time and fuel as the kilns had to be cooled down between loads. Continuous kilns operated so that fresh fuel and stone could be loaded into the kiln, and the burnt lime removed without interrupting the burning process. Freestanding intermittent kilns often had timber bridges or ramps to allow access to their tops for loading, as at Kakahu, Sandymount and Stavely kilns. It is difficult to tell if these kilns operated as flare kilns (where the fuel and lime were kept separate) or mixed-feed kilns (where lime and fuel were loaded in alternate layers). Intermittent kilns tended to be replaced with continuous kilns where the demand for lime was high and the industry further developed.
Other mechanised methods were introduced as works were adapted to meet increasing demand for lime and these associated sites and structures (such as quarries, crushing plants, rail lines and conveying equipment) are important in understanding lime works, and the connections to the industry as a whole. Focus has largely been on the obvious and interesting kilns rather than the whole works.
Archaeologist Jane Harrington writes that it is appropriate to view places associated with the lime burning industry ‘not as isolates, but as components which reflect the interaction between people and their physical and cultural environments, this interaction being grounded in the relationship between a site and all other related sites in a larger system.’ Sites should be considered within a web of relationships, including spatial relationships. The layers of activity include the structural remains of lime kilns, to a range of ancillary sites (roads, tramways, quarries, residences and so forth) to functional relationships in the landscape as part of a cultural landscape, where the process and transport of the resource or the product relate to the transportation and extraction technology of the time. These are dynamic systems reflecting changes over time.
Another archaeologist Michael Pearson writes that in Australia (and it could be applied to the New Zealand context) there is often inadequate historical description to identify the form of lime kilns, compounded by the lack of understanding of the various operating processes, which means that some uncertainty exists as to which kiln characteristics were required to enable a kiln to operate as continuous. Continuous kilns could be mixed feed (stone and fuel fed into the tall shaft kiln, burnt in the central section and removed at the base), or separate feed where separate fire boxes kept the lime and fuel apart. Kilns tended to be located at the source of the stone because of the transport costs, with fuel usually sourced from the surrounding district. In Australia the introduction of rail transport, and the production of cement in large plants in the later nineteenth century and early twentieth century, led to the demise of most small lime works.
Kilns were usually built of limestone and were of a circular ‘pot-type’ with a tunnel entrance at the base for firing and unloading. As loading was usually done from the top, kilns were often built into hillsides to allow the tipping in of the stone from a bridge. In Otago, lime kilns were erected as early as 1849, and there were kilns operating at Tokomairiro and on the Otago Peninsula in the 1860s. Oamaru, with its large deposits of limestone, was also the site of kilns in the 1860s. Architect and historian Geoffrey Thornton describes those surviving at Makareao as ‘dramatic industrial monument[s].’ Nigel Smith, writing on New Zealand’s industrial heritage, describes the Schmatolla Kiln as one of the country’s ‘finest industrial monuments.’
Makareao Lime Works
Lime had been quarried in the Dunback area by D. Hutcheson in the 1860s and by R. Murray in the 1870s. T. Falconer had set up a small kiln, but this facility could not meet the growing demands for lime. There were other known deposits nearby, for example at Janet’s Peak, where limestone was quarried.
By the end of the 1880s the government recognised the importance of lime to the developing agriculture of New Zealand. In September 1889 the Railway Commissioners reduced the railway rates for the carriage of lime for agricultural purposes (and also of drain pipes, tiles, gravel and stone) to encourage farmers throughout the country to use lime to improve the productivity of their land. Lime burners and farmers were enthusiastic in their support of this move. In 1898 the Government introduced free carriage of lime within 100 miles of the lime works, leading to a greatly increased demand from farmers. The development of the rail system was an integral part of the story of the lime works. The first part of the Dunback Branch of the national railway network was under construction by March 1880, and in operation by 1882.
There was general discussion in Otago about the advisability of the Government purchase of lime kilns. Milburn farmers (who had the Milburn Lime and Cement Company’s lime works on their doorstep) supported the idea of making lime available cheaply, but some questioned whether the Government could work the kilns any cheaper than a private company. They agreed, however, that cheap cartage was very important. Farmers had hoped that the Government would open up the lime deposits. They had the support of local Member of Parliament, Minister of Lands and Agriculture John McKenzie (1839-1901) who wanted to ensure a cheap supply of lime. McKenzie had owned a farm (Oykell) in Inch Valley for fourteen years, and owned a small holding at Shag River until his death. He was a keen advocate for the small farmer, with an intimate knowledge of farming, and did much to facilitate settling people onto the land and support them once they were there.
In January 1896 the Otago Witness enthused that the lime was conveniently situated, easily accessed, and would be a boon to Shag Valley farmers. In 1896 the Government purchased the Makareao estate and set the land aside for settlement. With the subdivision of the estate there were queries from people interested in leasing the quarry reserve for lime burning, if the Government was not planning to work the deposit themselves. The Government saw the opportunity to meet farmer demands for lime and decided to operate the lime works itself, estimating that the whole works would cost £10,000 to build. This alarmed other producers such as Milburn Lime and Cement Company, who feared they would be forced out of the market.
By early 1899 construction of the kilns at the Inch Valley Lime Quarry were underway, on instruction from John McKenzie. In February District Engineer E.R. Ussher called for tenders for the erection of one kiln with plans and specifications on view at the Post Office in Palmerston. Plans show the kiln lined with fire bricks, the top level with the ground. In June 1899 Ussher advertised for tenders for the erection of a lime cooler. By September 1899 the railway line to the lime works was under construction from the Dunback line to the Inch Valley quarry, and one kiln had been built and was ready for firing.
The Makareao Branch with four kilometres of track was constructed by the Public Works Department and opened on 31 March 1900. It was built solely to access the lime works. The Inch Valley Station had a loop for 15 wagons, a passenger platform and shelter shed, as well as a loading bank. The Makareao terminus (five kilometres further up the line from Inch Valley) had lime bins and a loop for 26 wagons.
By July 1900 the Otago Witness reported that the Inch Valley lime kilns were in ‘full swing’ and that several truck loads of lime had been sent away and ‘had been very highly spoken of’ by those who had seen it. Geologist James Black from Otago University analysed the burnt lime at Makareao. He was impressed: ‘This is a splendid sample of burnt lime. It will have great effect as an agricultural lime. The burning has been very thoroughly done. It is simply perfect.’ John Hay (the chief surveyor) was so pleased that he recommended the construction of two more kilns. The establishment of the works, however, did not progress smoothly, with personnel, construction and efficiency issues arising. Hay went as far as suggesting the works be shut down while more kilns were constructed, and indeed burning was suspended for a period.
An image probably dating from around the turn of the century (there is only one kiln operating) shows the site. A single kiln is built into the hillside with a recessed cut into the hill at the base providing access to the burnt lime. The kiln has a tall narrow chimney from which smoke issues. There is stone revetting along the bank on both sides of the kiln making a flat terraced area on which the workers are standing. Below the kiln reached by steep narrow steps is a tall narrow shed (perhaps the lime cooler) built into the hillside and a cluster of small corrugated iron buildings.
Efficiency problems resulted in a detailed assessment of the Works. A paper prepared by the Legislative Councillor and Member for Taranaki, the Hon. Thomas Kelly (d. 1921), described the functioning of gas-fired lime kilns which were designed to maximise output while minimising labour and fuel costs. Kelly visited Makareao, assessed the kilns and prepared plans and specifications in cooperation with the engineer George Robinson. Kelly recommended that gas fired kilns be built (and that the coal fired kiln be converted to gas) and John Hay concurred with his opinion.
George Robinson visited Makareao and the Milburn Lime Works (south of Dunedin). He was convinced that if the Government was to make a success of the works at Makareao at least three kilns needed to be constructed and kept running.
Gas kilns worked by ‘converting the fuel into producer [coal] gas in separate furnaces, and burning the gas so made in the kiln at some six feet from the hearth. The furnaces were supplied with heated air, heated by the waste gas from the top of the kiln, and also aided by a steam blast below the furnace in conjunction with heated air.’ The kiln was designed to hold 23 tons of limestone which in 24 hours was expected to produce nine tons of lime from 18 tons of stone. The body of the kiln was in two parts, divided by ‘the orifices of the gas flame.’ The upper part contained the limestone ‘in process of conversion into lime by the action of the gas flame’, the lower portion the burnt stone prior to removal. The stone was removed by means of a ‘revolving shield’, with an iron truck used to remove the lime. The kiln was fired by filling it with dry wood up to the gas outlets and the limestone placed on the wood until the kiln was half full. When the fire was established the furnaces were charged with wood and coal and fired. Once the furnaces had been lit for two hours the rest of the kiln could be filled with limestone to a little below the gas outlets at the top of the kiln. The all important air regulation was controlled by the shield.
By 1901 a gas fired kiln was being built. Government engineer George Robinson (1840-1933), who had worked alongside the Hon. Thomas Kelly, was in charge of the building of the second kiln. The kilns were built by W. Steel of Palmerston. The kilns were constructed in a line to allow a ‘straight and level siding’ for the rail wagons which brought the coal to be used as fuel for firing the kilns. Costings were also provided for the accommodation on site with a ‘Room & Office’ for the works manager, and a ‘Cottage for Engineer and three workmen.’
The widely reported ‘Dunback Mining Disaster’ which saw three workers killed when a cutting collapsed in 1901, provides insight into the nature of the site at this time. Engineer George Robinson was in charge of the excavation work at the time of the fatalities. The kiln had a cutting at the base 11 feet wide and in line with the already existing kiln. A brick tunnel was to be built in the cutting, and on top of the tunnel furnaces which would occupy the whole excavated space. The cutting was to be left open for about 30 feet and the brick tunnel started from that point and to run under the kiln. The accident happened when the cutting collapsed along a ‘flaw’ in the ground.
In 1903, after spending £14,000 on the development of the lime quarries, the Government decided to abandon the business as a commercial venture because it was failing to make money. The quarries were put up for lease by public tender. The lease documentation included an inventory of the plant and equipment. The buildings and structures included: 1 large lime kiln, 1 small lime kiln, 1 lime cooler with loading shelter shed, boiler, winding engine and shed, a coal shed and stable, stone shoot from quarry to tramline, a manager’s house, outbuildings and garden fence, 2 workmen’s cottages, 13 chains of tramlines from the quarry to the kilns and from the kilns to the cooler amongst sundry other equipment.
The Government was still supporting the lime industry, with lime carried free on railways for up to 100 miles in order to assist farmers and to discourage monopolistic practices. At the time there were four other firms working in Otago and Southland Meek and Co. at Fairfax in Southland, Lime Hills kilns at Winton, McDonald of Oamaru, and Meek of Oamaru. After briefly leasing the works to James Gibson, manager of the Mt Somers Coal Company who, like the Government failed to make the works pay, in 1909 the Government leased the works to the Milburn Lime and Cement Co. Ltd. which was already heavily involved in the lime industry. Milburn Lime and Cement Company, formed in 1888 (now a subsidiary of Holcim (New Zealand) Ltd), is one of New Zealand’s longest established cement brands. The Milburn Lime and Cement Company operated on a large scale, sending lime from as far north as Christchurch to Invercargill, and agricultural lime from Totara to Invercargill.
From 1909 to 1954 limestone at Makareao was obtained from two quarries. One was up nearby Inch Valley Creek, while the other main quarry was worked at 530 feet above sea level.
A ‘Schmatolla’ kiln, was constructed shortly after the Milburn Company took over the lease. Ernst Schmatolla pioneered this technology which improved on shaft kilns which prevented uneven burning of rock products (such as lime), resulting in an evenly burnt product, less wear on the lining of the kiln and substantial fuel savings, through the new arrangement of the cooler and the draw-pit. The Schmatolla kiln was loaded from the top. At the base were grates, under each of which there was a space filled with water. Air was regulated so that a large amount of combustible gas was produced. The gas was burnt part way up the shaft of the kiln. Company manager Frank Oakden, a man of large scale vision, visited Schmatolla in Germany and secured the patent rights for Australasia. He visited a lime works to see a kiln in operation, was impressed and ordered one for the Milburn works in Dunedin, which instead was installed at Makareao on Oakden’s recommendation. In addition an existing kiln at Makareao was converted to gas.
A visit to the lime works was reported in 1909:
I was shown the various treatment[s] [sic] the lime rock is subjected to ere it becomes that indispensible article – lime. To describe the vicinity towering high above its brethren hills of lesser height and worth, as though in its original state it would assume the prominence it eventually receives by virtue of its usefulness, the mountain of lime rock is an imposing spectacle. Veins of white rock girth its base, and higher up the colour varies, not so much evidence of the changing stratum, as the result of passing storms which have buffeted this exposed formation since prehistoric days when storm and mountain first met and tried conclusions. Our first steps were up the hillside through the powerhouse, where great winding engines, their latent power stored within, at present silent cylinders, lay like giants at rest. On the hillside we came to the initial step in the production of lime – viz., the severing of lumps from the parent stone in sizes handy for transport. This process of quarrying just as might be carried on in either the Glen or Pelichet Bay stone quarries. Then it is loaded for the descent to the kilns, and just here I was interested in an ingenious mechanical contrivance which resulted in a loading truck descending making good its passage by hauling up an empty truck on a seesaw principle. To the kilns I was next taken, and with the frank abandon which curiosity and inexperience is instrumental in prompting, I walked unconcernedly to the kiln mouth, but beat a hasty retreat as the keen sensible heat of glowing lime gave one to understand that caution must be recognised even in the search for knowledge. ‘This kiln has not been out for 10 years,’ said my host, and then I wondered no more at the vicious heat that made it unapproachable. Distance lends enchantment to the view, particularly when 10 years’ heat is radiating around one, so we descended to the foot of the kilns, where the lime, after doing penance in the flames, lay in its marketable state, merely awaiting the final process of grading, loading. etc.
In February 1913, the Milburn Company having secured a new 10 year lease on the Makareao works built a new coal-burning kiln to handle smaller sized stone as the Schmatolla kiln worked best on large lumps of stone.
Labour unrest at the Makareao works in December 1916 over wages for quarry hands at the plant led to a walk off. When the men failed to return to work (having taken up the farm or shearing work) the company built workmen’s accommodation and a dining room to act as incentives to attract workers.
Around World War One new technological developments in both agriculture and cement manufacture encouraged the use of crushed rather than burnt limestone. There was scepticism from farmers, with the Milburn Company going to some effort to demonstrate that the crushed product still worked: it spelt out the word ‘Milburn’ with crushed lime on a disbelieving farmer’s paddock, and the resulting lush grass growth spelt out the company name for some years. In 1917 a carbonate of lime plant was constructed to facilitate the Company’s trade in agricultural lime. The limestone was crushed twice then carried by elevators to a pulveriser. These efforts were successful and by 1918 the plant was producing over 7,000 tons of burnt lime (for the cement works) and over 3,500 tons of carbonate. The success led to the expansion of the plant with a new light railway line and shed for the small locomotive which transported stone from the quarry to the plant and further expansion followed in the 1920s.
In 1929 the lime works began supplying lime for cement to the Burnside Cement Works in Dunedin, following the installation of a new crushing plant. The crushed calcite rock was taken out by rail to the Burnside Cement Works in Dunedin until its closure in 1988.
By the mid 1930s there was a boom in lime burning and associated cement works. Giving evidence at an employment hearing Mr Roberts, representing workers at these sites explained that in 1927-28 there were 27 lime and cement works (employing 915 workers). By 1935 there were 50 such establishments (employing only 704 workers). Free cartage had meant that there were more speculative ventures and associated cost cutting. The plant was further expanded in the early 1930s, including conversion of the plant to electrical power.
By the end of the 1930s the original quarry, not far above the rail level, was worked out. The argillite overburden made the quarry uneconomic. A deposit of limestone was noted on the hilltop above the works, and negotiations with the owners began for quarrying rights, on what was hoped to be a deposit that would last for at least the next 60 years. After securing the mining rights development was delayed by the onset of World War Two, despite the cement industry being declared essential. The Company stopped burning lime in the old kilns in 1942.
In 1950 a new [exploratory] quarry was opened on the hilltop above the ‘old works’ at the height of 900 feet above sea level, with an aerial ropeway transporting the stone to the plant. In 1954 a new crushing plant was installed near the new quarry [by Downer Construction]. [There were two single men's camps where Downer's men and some works employees lived - one over the creek from the village and the other down the railway line from the village (about thirty single huts). The creek camp had eight rooms opening onto a verandah Ithe original limeworks men's quarters called 'The Morgue'. The construction project meant that more housing was needed and twenty single huts were set up behind 'The Morgue.' Both camps ate at the cookhouse next to the manager's house. Once construction was finished the camp by The Morgue was dismantled, and the other reduced to ten huts. The ablution block south of The Morgue was dismantled, but the floor remained. The concrete floor was perfect for a swimming pool. This was built from bricks from the Schmatolla kiln. The pool was used by village children as well as those from Dunback who were brought out for swimmng lessons].
A conveyor belt took the rock to the secondary crushing plant, and a ropeway takes it to the carbonate plant, providing the infrastructure for the Company to provide cement for large projects such as the Roxburgh Hydro development and by the early 1950s was the sole source of limestone for the cement works. In 1950 five trains operated a week but by 1968 limestone was the sole traffic and services were reduced to three times a week to the Burnside Cement Works in Dunedin.
A deed from 1953 indicates the plant existing at this time. It describes: 2 kilns; Lime Cooler and Shed part iron part concrete; Boiler in disuse; Winch and iron rope and Shed for same; Coalshed; Iron Shed for holding blowers; Manager’s house and outbuildings; Workmen’s cottages (2); 13 chains Tramlines; Reservoir with pipe connection; Garage; Fencing and gates.
In 1963 the Milburn Lime and Cement Company merged with New Zealand Cement, becoming New Zealand Cement Holdings Ltd. The new company worked limestone quarries at five locations through the country.
The peak limestone production at Makareao was in the 1970s when all the limestone for Burnside Cement Works was quarried from the site, producing 170,000 tons. In December 1988 the Burnside Cement Works were closed, removing the limestone traffic which had kept the Makareao Branch Line in operation. The line was formally closed on 1 June 1989. The railway alignment remains visible at the lime works, as well as the bridges, abutments, culverts and formations associated with the Makareao Line. At the same time the rope way ceased to be used. The Engineering Shop and the Men’s Quarters (as they were called in the NZHPT records – presumably one of the sheds and the workmen’s accommodation noted previously) were demolished some time in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
A commodity report on limestone, marble and dolomite indicates that there were currently eight operating lime plants in New Zealand at that time. Two in the South Island (Makareao and at Browns in Southland, four in Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay (Mauriceville, Hatuma, Waipawa and Havelock North), and two in the Waikato (Te Kuiti and Otorohanga).
In 2010 the historic Makareao Lime Works, standing amidst the modern operations of Taylor’s Lime which produces burnt lime, hydrated lime and agricultural lime, recalls the historic importance of the lime industry to New Zealands development, its role in promoting agriculture and its value to the building industry.
