Timaru Milling Company Building

This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. The following text is the original citation considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration.

James Bruce built a wooden mill on this site in 1878, but this was burned down in 1881. He began rebuilding immediately, and in September 1882 opened the new mill, which was the first in New Zealand to be equipped with a roller milling plant. It is a substantial rectangular building of brick six stories high built against the railway line. It has many arched windows at each level, and has a pleasing symmetrical appearance.

The mill has been in continuous use with little modifications for over a century and the company intends to use it into the foreseeable future.

Said to be the largest mill in New Zealand about the turn of the century, it is important as a fine working example of Timaru's milling industry, the largest in New Zealand during the wheat boom of the 1880s.

Internal features include a considerable amount of early machinery still in use, the polished wooden floors, and the spiral sack slide which connects all the floors. The slight alterations that have been made have been in keeping with the original style, and are in brick.

The integrity of this structure and its significance as the mill that revolutionised the flour milling industry in New Zealand make it an outstanding industrial structure.

Construction Dates

Original Construction
1882 -

Partial Demolition
2001 -
In circa 2001 the three storeyed structure at the complex was demolished. However, the six storeyed structure remains.

Other Information

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.