AH Maude's grain store was among the early buildings built on Oamaru's newly formed Harbour Street in 1875.
Arthur Hay Maude (1837-1919) was a prominent Oamaru businessman. He was born in London and brought up in Yorkshire. He came to New Zealand in 1866 and settled in Oamaru. He established himself first as a stock and station agent, conducting a large business over twenty years. After becoming bankrupt in December 1888, he became assistant manager for the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, before becoming a land and estate agent.
The store is built of local greystone from the 'Corporation quarry', a unique material in this otherwise limestone precinct. The stone is roughly worked and by far the most simple of the practice’s grain stores. The only decoration is the contrasting quoins around the windows and the central doorway. The gable ends are visible to Harbour Street, not concealed by a parapet as with the adjoining buildings. It is rectangular in plan. The interior was an open storage area with the gabled roof supported by wooden pillars. The wide main door provided access for a dray to unload grain, while the rear entrance provided access to the railway line and nearby port. The building covered an area of 116 by 30 ft (35 by 9m), with 12 ft (4m) walls, each with a window and folding doors. The floor was timber. There were two offices at the west end, fronting Harbour Street, each with a fire place, and there was storage for 48,000 bushels of grain. The construction cost was between £800-900. The stone mason was H. Munro and the carpenter a Mr Bain. The North Otago Times identifies John Lemon as the architect, while architectural historian Conal McCarthy attributes it to Forrester and Lemon’s practice. McCarthy compares this building to the single-storied warehouses of Flinders Lane in Melbourne.
In 1876 Maude made additions – a ‘new store and auction room, adjoining the large grain store erected about a year ago.’ The new building occupied an area of 33ft by 90ft (10 by 27m), the entire building covering an area of 66ft to a depth of 100ft from Harbour Street to the railway siding (20 by 30m). ‘The walls are of rubble, faced with Oamaru stone and have a very substantial as well as a pleasing appearance.’ The buildings were roofed with iron and lit by windows and fanlights at the ends and skylights. The architect was John Lemon, and the contractors John Thomson (carpenter), and Wilson and Roxburgh (stonemasons). The addition includes a sample room at the east end, and an auction room and two offices at the Harbour street end. The rooms were 16 by 12ft (5 by 4m) and 16 by 10ft (5 by 3m), one a clerk’s office and the other a private office.
Subsequent tenants have included (from 1907) pharmacist Edward Lane of Lane’s Emulsion fame – with the slogan painted across the door ‘It’s famous because it’s good’, an Oamaru and New Zealand icon. The business was later taken over by health and natural products importers and distributors Crombie and Price Limited. In later years the building has been home to a bakery and other small businesses.
In 2013 AH Maude’s Stores (Former) remains a significant building in Oamaru’s Harbour/Tyne Historic Area (Register No. 7064).
Arthur Hay Maude (1837-1919) was a prominent Oamaru businessman. He was born in London and brought up in Yorkshire. He came to New Zealand in 1866 and settled in Oamaru. He established himself first as a stock and station agent, conducting a large business over twenty years. After becoming bankrupt in December 1888, he became assistant manager for the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, before becoming a land and estate agent.
The store is built of local greystone from the 'Corporation quarry', a unique material in this otherwise limestone precinct. The stone is roughly worked and by far the most simple of the practice’s grain stores. The only decoration is the contrasting quoins around the windows and the central doorway. The gable ends are visible to Harbour Street, not concealed by a parapet as with the adjoining buildings. It is rectangular in plan. The interior was an open storage area with the gabled roof supported by wooden pillars. The wide main door provided access for a dray to unload grain, while the rear entrance provided access to the railway line and nearby port. The building covered an area of 116 by 30 ft (35 by 9m), with 12 ft (4m) walls, each with a window and folding doors. The floor was timber. There were two offices at the west end, fronting Harbour Street, each with a fire place, and there was storage for 48,000 bushels of grain. The construction cost was between £800-900. The stone mason was H. Munro and the carpenter a Mr Bain. The North Otago Times identifies John Lemon as the architect, while architectural historian Conal McCarthy attributes it to Forrester and Lemon’s practice. McCarthy compares this building to the single-storied warehouses of Flinders Lane in Melbourne.
In 1876 Maude made additions – a ‘new store and auction room, adjoining the large grain store erected about a year ago.’ The new building occupied an area of 33ft by 90ft (10 by 27m), the entire building covering an area of 66ft to a depth of 100ft from Harbour Street to the railway siding (20 by 30m). ‘The walls are of rubble, faced with Oamaru stone and have a very substantial as well as a pleasing appearance.’ The buildings were roofed with iron and lit by windows and fanlights at the ends and skylights. The architect was John Lemon, and the contractors John Thomson (carpenter), and Wilson and Roxburgh (stonemasons). The addition includes a sample room at the east end, and an auction room and two offices at the Harbour street end. The rooms were 16 by 12ft (5 by 4m) and 16 by 10ft (5 by 3m), one a clerk’s office and the other a private office.
Subsequent tenants have included (from 1907) pharmacist Edward Lane of Lane’s Emulsion fame – with the slogan painted across the door ‘It’s famous because it’s good’, an Oamaru and New Zealand icon. The business was later taken over by health and natural products importers and distributors Crombie and Price Limited. In later years the building has been home to a bakery and other small businesses.
In 2013 AH Maude’s Stores (Former) remains a significant building in Oamaru’s Harbour/Tyne Historic Area (Register No. 7064).
