Historical Description and Analysis:
In the 1840s, European colonists selected the future site of Picton to be the major gateway by sea for the Wairau Valley. Originally the Maori settlement of Waitohi, an important pa of Te Atiawa, in 1850 the site was purchased from Te Atiawa chiefs with a deed drawn up by Major Richmond and Dillon Bell. Local Maori were relocated to a new village laid out at Waikawa Bay, and the colonial settlement of Waitohi, renamed Picton in 1859, grew steadily from the late 1850s onwards.
The first hotels in Picton were built during the late 1850s, providing an accommodation service for visitors, labourers and travellers. The building that became known as Oxley's Hotel was built on Picton's waterfront around 1870, on the site of an earlier timber hotel.
Picton builder William Pugh, the hotel's first manager, is thought to have constructed the 1870 building. Originally known as the 'Bank Hotel', the building was transferred to Allen Gulliver Divens (1831-1909) in 1881. Renamed the 'Pier Hotel', the building was leased to 'Newth and Andrews' until 1883 when Divens took over management. Divens upgraded the hotel's facilities, and the Marlborough Express reported that Divens had had 'everything in short done to convert the Hotel to a first class establishment'. The article indicated that the two-storey building featured ten bedrooms and a private sitting room on the first floor, and a bar, a bar parlour, a dining room with seating for eight persons, and a billiard room on the ground floor.
In 1887 Divens sold the hotel to his son-in-law Francis Allwood Oxley. Two years later Oxley is thought to have constructed a two-storey timber wing on the south side of the hotel. In 1899 Oxley appears to have employed George Alexander Smith to assist with major alterations and additions to the building. Over a three-year period, the original portions of the hotel were demolished, leaving only the timber portion (1889) constructed on the south side. Added to this timber portion was a two-storey masonry building with a curved façade in Italianate Palazzo style, [designed by prominent architect Joshua Charlesworth and built in 1902]. The hotel, renamed Oxley's, included 29 rooms, of which 16 were bedrooms.
Oxley's Hotel continued to serve as an important gathering place throughout its history, until its closure in 2003. Especially in the earlier part of the twentieth century, community meetings were regularly held in the hotel. In 1911, for example, 'some sixty representative men of Marlborough' attended a meeting at Oxley's where the Mayor of Picton presided over a reception for the Hon. J.A. Millar (Minister for Railways) and MP for the district (John Duncan), to discuss Picton's economic progress in becoming the proposed 'Liverpool of the South'. Oxley's Hotel was also locally significant for being the first building in Picton to have its own electric power plant, a hydroelectric system driven by an 18-inch Pelton wheel, made and installed by engineers from Wellington.
Oxley's Hotel also served and continues to serve as a prominent visual symbol for Picton. Picton's position as a harbour and transport hub between the North and South Islands has long been of fundamental economic importance to the town, and Oxley's, due to its history and prime location in an area highly visible from land and water, became integrally associated with the visual identity of Picton. In 1986, Taylor noted that:
'The verandah, lace ironwork and façade of Oxley's Hotel [were] part of the extensive rebuilding of 1899. These have drawn a lot of attention to the hotel, there must be hundreds of photos taken each year by visitors to Picton. With Oxley's and the old Post Office both situated in the same area, makes this part of London Quay very historic'.
The old Post Office referred to here has since been demolished (Record number 5195, removed from NZHPT Register), leaving Oxley's as 'essentially the centrepiece of what remains of the old Picton'. As well as numerous postcard views and publicity shots, the hotel has featured in commercials for the Cook Strait Interislander ferry, and also as a backdrop for some of the action in the 1981 movie Goodbye Pork Pie, when one of the characters makes the 'pub-stop in Picton common to many ferry-goers'.
In 1991 the colonial style verandah, which was a popular feature of the building but in poor condition, was removed from the façade of the hotel and put into storage. The following year the owners were informed that the building was an earthquake risk by the Marlborough District Council. Proposals for strengthening the building were obtained and funding was sought. Yet by 2000 little had been achieved and schemes to demolish the hotel building began to surface, eliciting some response from the public who were 'concerned about the future of one of our few historic buildings'. By 2003 firm plans for demolishing the structure, with the exception of the masonry façade (protected by a listing in the Marlborough District Plan), had been developed in the form of a 17-metre high modern commercial and residential building designed to surround the facade. The loss of heritage and threat to Picton's unique character that the scale of the development would involve concerned the local authority, the public, and the NZHPT, who advocated for retention of the whole building and opposed the proposal in a hearing in 2003. Local paper Seaport News also commented on the significant implications of modern development for Picton, stating that 'few other places have so much of their town's visual identity tied up in such a confined and prominent location', and that:
'That old view of Picton, the Quay as seen from the Harbour, has been quite a resource for the town over the years ... an enduring image shared and enjoyed by many over the last century, of significance for its visual tenacity and continuity if nothing else'.
In light of criticisms expressed in the submissions the developers presented revised plans before the hearing, however the owner's application for resource consent to erect the new building was declined. The owners then appealed the decision and filed a demolition notice. An Environment Court mediation in 2004, in which NZHPT joined the proceedings as an affected party, resulted in a Heads of Agreement with regard to revised plans prepared with the input of the NZHPT. These plans involved modification of the proposed development and retention of the brick masonry façade in a scheme more appropriate to the heritage values of the structure. With the exception of the façade, the rest of the building was demolished in its entirety in 2004. During this process a shell midden and the foundations of the pre-1889 version of the building were identified along with other evidence of early European occupation, however the archaeological value of the site was destroyed in the course of the demolition and redevelopment.
The retained façade has since been incorporated into the new development, in which a new five-storey building has been constructed around it. This has resulted in modifications to the façade, including the removal of the parapet and alterations to the windows. However, the lace ironwork verandah has been reinstated, a popular feature that many in Picton were happy to have restored to the townscape. This adds a significant three-dimensional aspect to the façade.
The final design for the building, renegotiated as part of the Environment Court mediation process to attain a result more complementary to the remaining heritage values of the retained Oxley's Hotel Façade, resulted in a number of modifications. These involved increasing the setbacks of the upper storeys of the building to allow the façade more prominence as a feature, and a distinct treatment for the new development which saw the whole building being redesigned to give the appearance of three adjacent yet related buildings - a treatment helped by the corner site and the curved nature of the Oxley's Hotel Façade. Consequently, this tripartite design also communicated a stronger identity for the Oxley's façade, and design elements from the façade (Ionic pilasters) were also carried over into the design for the new redevelopment. The façade was refurbished in a colour scheme based on original heritage colours, and original stained glass windows in the portals above the bar area were restored and reinstalled, enhancing the aesthetic value and integrity of the façade. The new building has a café, bar and restaurant on the ground floor and apartments above, echoing the earlier functions of the old hotel.
Since construction of the new Oxley's Rock development was completed in 2006, the Picton community has shown its support for the new building, largely because of the heritage it represents due to the incorporation of the Oxley's Hotel Façade. In a town where little built heritage remains, the Oxley's Hotel Façade represents one of the most visible remaining links to the past history of the town and the identity with which Picton has marketed itself. Community esteem for the façade is most strongly evidenced by the wealth of opinion pieces generated during the redevelopment process, and the submissions received as part of the review of registration process initiated by the NZHPT. Submitters to the NZHPT felt that the combined façade and verandah retained character of earlier times, and with interpretation had the potential to provide an excellent story on the heritage of the town, and that:
'After a somewhat controversial start many of the project's original detractors have since 'softened their stance' and locals and tourists alike have praised the initiative of all involved (including the Historic Places Trust) in preserving one of the few remaining structural examples of Picton's early heritage.'
The Marlborough Express echoed its support by stating: 'The ornate Oxley's façade resurrected and completely restored ... is still a landmark of merit on the Picton landscape and continues to represent old-world charm...'
Although the original heritage values of the façade have been diminished by the surrounding redevelopment and loss of the majority of the fabric of the old building, much of the aesthetic and architectural value of the original Oxley's Hotel façade remains in place, and has been enhanced by the refurbishment and reinstatement of the verandah. The façade remains a very good example of the public architecture of a quality hotel from the 1890s. Most importantly, the continuity that Oxley's Hotel Façade represents, as a rare remaining link to the historic heritage of the town and as a prominent visual symbol of Picton, ensures its significance to the local community as well as the many travellers who pass through on their journeys between the North and South Islands.
