Hughes’ Cottage (Former), a restored nineteenth-century miner’s cottage, built of schist, has historical significance as a reminder of the lives of gold miners who mined in the Vinegar Hill/Shepherds Flats area in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It has aesthetic and architectural significance due to the use of vernacular materials.
As indicated by the name, Shepherds Flat was an area associated with the pastoralists of the late 1850s and early 1860s, but it was gold mining that shaped surrounding country from around 1862. Miners worked nearby Vinegar Hill and lived in residence areas held under mining tenure. Among the miners who worked the Shepherds Hut Flat (later called Shepherds Flat) were Thomas and John Morgan, and Thomas Hughes. A 1904 survey plan (SO 7179) for Thomas Morgan and Rees Hughes shows three structures within a post and wire fenced residence area. The cottage probably dates from the nineteenth century and was most likely Thomas Hughes’ residence.
Thomas Hughes was born into a farming family at Carmarthenshire, Wales, in 1833. Employed at an iron works, he came to Victoria, Australia in 1860 and then to Otago in 1861. He formed a business association with John Morgan in 1863. He was a one-time president of the Miners’ Association. His family of five sons and two daughters formed the backbone of the community at Cambrians and the surrounding area. In later years, the property was incorporated into a larger farming block, leased by the Harley family – relations of the Hughes’s. Around the mid-1890s, Hughes’ and Morgan’s mining interests were later combined with mining magnate John Ewing’s under the auspices of the Vinegar Hill Hydraulic Sluicing Company, working the Vinegar Hill area using hydraulic elevating.
Hughes’ Cottage (Former) is typical of a nineteenth-century gold miner’s residence. It is built of local schist stone, single storey, with a central door flanked by two double-hung sash windows. It is small, probably only two-roomed originally. Hughes’ Cottage was eventually abandoned and became derelict, although a 1993 inspection of the building noted that it was still in good condition. Alterations have been made to the cottage, such as removal of the partition walls to create a largely open-plan space. The original coal range remains, as do the fireplaces. A corrugated iron extension has been added to the rear of the cottage, providing bedrooms and bathrooms. This extension is small in scale, and the timber joinery matches that of the cottage. The original exterior wall of the cottage is exposed, clearly demarcating the original building.
In 2017, the cottage provides holiday accommodation and is known as Lombardy Cottage. Its history reflects the changes in Central Otago in the later years of the twentieth century – from rural backwater to a vibrant economy focused on tourism. It is one of a number of formerly derelict buildings given a new lease of life.
As indicated by the name, Shepherds Flat was an area associated with the pastoralists of the late 1850s and early 1860s, but it was gold mining that shaped surrounding country from around 1862. Miners worked nearby Vinegar Hill and lived in residence areas held under mining tenure. Among the miners who worked the Shepherds Hut Flat (later called Shepherds Flat) were Thomas and John Morgan, and Thomas Hughes. A 1904 survey plan (SO 7179) for Thomas Morgan and Rees Hughes shows three structures within a post and wire fenced residence area. The cottage probably dates from the nineteenth century and was most likely Thomas Hughes’ residence.
Thomas Hughes was born into a farming family at Carmarthenshire, Wales, in 1833. Employed at an iron works, he came to Victoria, Australia in 1860 and then to Otago in 1861. He formed a business association with John Morgan in 1863. He was a one-time president of the Miners’ Association. His family of five sons and two daughters formed the backbone of the community at Cambrians and the surrounding area. In later years, the property was incorporated into a larger farming block, leased by the Harley family – relations of the Hughes’s. Around the mid-1890s, Hughes’ and Morgan’s mining interests were later combined with mining magnate John Ewing’s under the auspices of the Vinegar Hill Hydraulic Sluicing Company, working the Vinegar Hill area using hydraulic elevating.
Hughes’ Cottage (Former) is typical of a nineteenth-century gold miner’s residence. It is built of local schist stone, single storey, with a central door flanked by two double-hung sash windows. It is small, probably only two-roomed originally. Hughes’ Cottage was eventually abandoned and became derelict, although a 1993 inspection of the building noted that it was still in good condition. Alterations have been made to the cottage, such as removal of the partition walls to create a largely open-plan space. The original coal range remains, as do the fireplaces. A corrugated iron extension has been added to the rear of the cottage, providing bedrooms and bathrooms. This extension is small in scale, and the timber joinery matches that of the cottage. The original exterior wall of the cottage is exposed, clearly demarcating the original building.
In 2017, the cottage provides holiday accommodation and is known as Lombardy Cottage. Its history reflects the changes in Central Otago in the later years of the twentieth century – from rural backwater to a vibrant economy focused on tourism. It is one of a number of formerly derelict buildings given a new lease of life.
