Why is this place significant?

Why is this place Category 1 / Category 2?

In 1872 Edwin Butchers took up land in the area now known as Fairview and established a commercial orchard, the trees for which had come from Australia. The orchard is thought to have been one of the earliest in South Canterbury. A cob house was built in the 1870s, and by the 1880s the Butchers had built a complex of cob buildings, namely the Cob Cool Store, as well as a cob stables building and a cob wash house. The cob was mixed by treading clay and tussock with bullocks and horses. The present brick homestead was built in the 1920s, possibly on the site of the original cob house. Edwin Butchers was born in Kent, England, in 1840 and was brought up as a farmer. He arrived in Lyttelton by the ship Canterbury in 1864 and worked for about 18 months on Longbeach Station in South Canterbury. Some time after this, he was employed in the formation of the West Coast road. In 1871 Butchers married and the following year, in 1872, he commenced farming at Fairview, on eighty acres of land. By the early 20th century this had increased to 106 acres. Cider was produced at Butchers Orchard from the late 19th century and the original cider press was worked by hand. Cider barrels and cider bottles are stored in the lean-to section of the Cob Cool Store. The pear cider was legendary with the locals. The cob building provided an even temperature of the storage of fruit and fruit produce. The homestead and complex of cob buildings has remained in the ownership of descendents of the Butchers family. COB: Cob construction is surprisingly like concrete once dry. A wet mix was made of clay, tempered with chopped straw and dung, which set hard as it dried. The materials were free and the method was very old and had been used in for many centuries, notably in England from where Edwin Butchers had hailed. In 19th century New Zealand cob construction was common. Several of the colonists' handbooks recommended it for its simplicity, pointing out that even farm labourers could build with it. In the thinly wooded Canterbury, cob was an ideal construction material and it was used widely. In 1871, more than 30% of all the houses in South Canterbury were built by cob. However, an overwhelming amount has not survived and it is not common for those cob buildings that do survive to remain in use. It is noteworthy that the Cob Cool Store at Fairview continues a storage function.

The Cob Cool Store is located on farmland, approximately 100 metres to the south-east of a 1920s brick homestead located at the corner of Fairview and Barton Roads, Fairview. The area has several large macrocarpa trees to the south-west and east of the building, and the ground is grassed. Two other cob buildings are located to the east of the Cob Cool Store, one being a smaller wash house building situated approximately half way between the homestead and the Cob Cool Store, and the other a substantial Cob Shed which was the original stables for the property, located approximately 25 metres to the east of the Cob Cool Store. All these buildings can be seen from Barton Road. The Cob Cool Store building itself is approximately 13 metres by 20 metres rectangular in plan. It is constructed of cob with weatherboards in the gable ends. It has a cob lean-to that runs the length of the southern elevation and a glass house that runs the length of the northern elevation. The glass house consists of a brick base with narrow vertical panes of glass and timber framing. The doors are timber. The roof is corrugated iron.

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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.