As stock numbers increased in the 1860s, a boundary keeping system was adopted in South Canterbury. Boundary keepers lived in simple huts such as Stony Creek Hut, patrolling the property boundaries daily and driving the sheep back into their own property.
[Frederick and Thomas Teschemaker (brothers) were the first owners of Haldon Station - their application for the Run is dated November 1857. Journals outline how the brothers built Stony Creek Hut in late April 1862 for their first boundary keeper employed at the Station, Edmund Norman, who had been engaged on 13 February 1862 for £55 per annum.]
Edmund Norman (1820-75), surveyor and well-known artist, lived at Stony Creek Hut [as its first boundary keeper from when it was built in] 1862 until January 1864. [He had] cats and dogs for company. It was while he was in this isolated spot that he painted many of his best known early South Canterbury water colours, some of which were later exhibited at English art galleries. He is now recognised as one of South Canterbury's most distinguished artists. He also worked as a surveyor for the New Zealand Company on the drafting of maps of Wellington, the Wairarapa and later Lyttelton.
James Innes, grandfather of the present owner Peter Innes, also lived in the hut and worked as a boundary keeper. In 1911 James Innes acquired the lease of the Stony Creek run. With the advent of cheap wire fencing in the 1870s and with the subdivision of the larger runs, there was no longer the need for boundary keepers.
List Entry Information
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
7181
Date Entered
23rd June 1994
Date of Effect
23rd June 1994
City/District Council
Waimate District
Region
Canterbury Region
Extent of List Entry
Extent includes part of the land described as Run 317 (RT CB6B/334), Canterbury Land District and the building described as Stony Creek Hut thereon. Refer to Extent map tabled at the Rārangi Kōrero Committee on 26 March 2020.
Legal description
Run 317 (RT CB6B/334), Canterbury Land District
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
7181
Date Entered
23rd June 1994
Date of Effect
23rd June 1994
City/District Council
Waimate District
Region
Canterbury Region
Extent of List Entry
Extent includes part of the land described as Run 317 (RT CB6B/334), Canterbury Land District and the building described as Stony Creek Hut thereon. Refer to Extent map tabled at the Rārangi Kōrero Committee on 26 March 2020.
Legal description
Run 317 (RT CB6B/334), Canterbury Land District
Why is this place significant?
Historic Significance
Historical Significance or Value This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Proposal for Classification report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The historical significance of Stony Creek Hut relates to its use as a boundary keeper's hut. Boundary huts appear to have been fairly common during the early years of South Island high country pastoral farming. The boundary keeping occupation was a major contributing factor in the development of the large MacKenzie Country runs. Stony Creek Hut is a surviving example of a building type which was made redundant by technological development and has additional historical significance in that it was occupied by Edmund Norman who is recognised as one of South Canterbury's most distinguished artists.
Physical Significance
This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Proposal for Classification report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. ARCHITECTURAL QUALITY: Stony Creek Hut is a well resolved example of a New Zealand vernacular building type, the hut. Its combination of rectangular plan, symmetrical front facade and pitched roof is typical of many small scale buildings erected in colonial New Zealand. Utilitarian and simple to construct, Stony Creek Hut reflects the difficulty imposed by its remote location in the use of readily available construction materials. It is of technological interest in that the stonework is laid as random rubble in two skins with loose infill between. While the quality of workmanship is somewhat rough as befits an early building in such a remote location, the hut is remarkably sound for its age, and other than the recladding of the roof it has been little altered. TOWNSCAPE/LANDMARK VALUE: Stony Creek runs about 100 metres to the north of the hut. The hut itself is situated at the base of a knoll and its construction of local greywacke harmonises with the barren surrounds.
Why is this place significant?
Historic Significance
Historical Significance or Value This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Proposal for Classification report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The historical significance of Stony Creek Hut relates to its use as a boundary keeper's hut. Boundary huts appear to have been fairly common during the early years of South Island high country pastoral farming. The boundary keeping occupation was a major contributing factor in the development of the large MacKenzie Country runs. Stony Creek Hut is a surviving example of a building type which was made redundant by technological development and has additional historical significance in that it was occupied by Edmund Norman who is recognised as one of South Canterbury's most distinguished artists.
Physical Significance
This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Proposal for Classification report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. ARCHITECTURAL QUALITY: Stony Creek Hut is a well resolved example of a New Zealand vernacular building type, the hut. Its combination of rectangular plan, symmetrical front facade and pitched roof is typical of many small scale buildings erected in colonial New Zealand. Utilitarian and simple to construct, Stony Creek Hut reflects the difficulty imposed by its remote location in the use of readily available construction materials. It is of technological interest in that the stonework is laid as random rubble in two skins with loose infill between. While the quality of workmanship is somewhat rough as befits an early building in such a remote location, the hut is remarkably sound for its age, and other than the recladding of the roof it has been little altered. TOWNSCAPE/LANDMARK VALUE: Stony Creek runs about 100 metres to the north of the hut. The hut itself is situated at the base of a knoll and its construction of local greywacke harmonises with the barren surrounds.
Construction Details
Start Year
1862
Finish Year
1862
Type
Original Construction
Construction Materials
The walls of the hut are constructed of random rubble greywacke river stones in two skins with loose rubble infill between. The interior is mud plastered and whitewashed. The hut has a wooden floor supported on joists and wooden roof framing with corrugated iron sheathing.
Notable Features
Stonework laid as random rubble in two skins with loose infill between.
Construction Details
Start Year
1862
Finish Year
1862
Type
Original Construction
Construction Materials
The walls of the hut are constructed of random rubble greywacke river stones in two skins with loose rubble infill between. The interior is mud plastered and whitewashed. The hut has a wooden floor supported on joists and wooden roof framing with corrugated iron sheathing.
Notable Features
Stonework laid as random rubble in two skins with loose infill between.
The following text is from the original Proposal for Classification report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. ARCHITECT/ENGINEER/DESIGNER: Presumably designed by the builder BUILDER: Henry Ford or his employees ARCHITECT/ENGINEER/DESIGNER: Henry Ford was manager of Grampian Hills Station at the time Stony Creek Hut was constructed. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: Stony Creek Hut is a single roomed hut with a rectangular plan and pitched roof. The front (north) facade is symmetrical and has a centrally located door with a single light window on either side. There is another window on the south side of the building and a stove and chimney at the east end. MODIFICATIONS: Date not known: Some rafters replaced and the roof (thought to have been originally thatched with Snowgrass) reclad with corrugated iron.
The following text is from the original Proposal for Classification report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. ARCHITECT/ENGINEER/DESIGNER: Presumably designed by the builder BUILDER: Henry Ford or his employees ARCHITECT/ENGINEER/DESIGNER: Henry Ford was manager of Grampian Hills Station at the time Stony Creek Hut was constructed. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: Stony Creek Hut is a single roomed hut with a rectangular plan and pitched roof. The front (north) facade is symmetrical and has a centrally located door with a single light window on either side. There is another window on the south side of the building and a stove and chimney at the east end. MODIFICATIONS: Date not known: Some rafters replaced and the roof (thought to have been originally thatched with Snowgrass) reclad with corrugated iron.
Historical and Associated Iwi / Hapū / Whānau
Information Sources
Acland, 1975
L.G.D. Acland, The Early Canterbury Runs, 4th ed., Christchurch, 1975
Department of Conservation
Department of Conservation
Wilson, 1991 (2)
J. Wilson, South Canterbury historical guide : including the towns of Timaru, Temuka, Geraldine, Pleasant Point, Fairlie and Waimate, their surrounding country districts, and the Mackenzie Country, Timaru, 1991.
Pinney, 1971
R Pinney, Early South Canterbury Runs, Wellington, 1971
Thornton, 1986
Geoffrey Thornton, The New Zealand Heritage of Farm Buildings, Auckland, 1986
Other Information
A copy of the original report is available from the NZHPT Southern 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. This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Proposal for Classification report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. [Square brackets indicate where later updated]
Historical and Associated Iwi / Hapū / Whānau
Information Sources
Acland, 1975
L.G.D. Acland, The Early Canterbury Runs, 4th ed., Christchurch, 1975
Department of Conservation
Department of Conservation
Wilson, 1991 (2)
J. Wilson, South Canterbury historical guide : including the towns of Timaru, Temuka, Geraldine, Pleasant Point, Fairlie and Waimate, their surrounding country districts, and the Mackenzie Country, Timaru, 1991.
Pinney, 1971
R Pinney, Early South Canterbury Runs, Wellington, 1971
Thornton, 1986
Geoffrey Thornton, The New Zealand Heritage of Farm Buildings, Auckland, 1986
Other Information
A copy of the original report is available from the NZHPT Southern 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. This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Proposal for Classification report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. [Square brackets indicate where later updated]
Former Usages
General Usage: Accommodation
Specific Usage: Hut/shack
General Usage: Agriculture
Specific Usage: Stockman’s Hut
Former Usages
General Usage: Accommodation
Specific Usage: Hut/shack
General Usage: Agriculture
Specific Usage: Stockman’s Hut
