Maori History The Southland Plains, on which modern day Otautau is located, recall the history of the Takitimu waka, the waka of Tamatea Pokaiwhenua, Tamatea Pokaimoana, Tamatea Ure Haea. The Takitimu Mountains, named after the wreck of the waka of Tamatea, stand at the edge of Fiordland. The Plains formed when the Aoraki’s canoe capsized, and Aoraki and his brothers were forced to climb onto the back of it to avoid drowning. The broad stern of the waka formed the Southland Plains, culminating in the tip of the stern being Motu Pohue (Bluff Hill). The bodies of Aoraki and his brothers were changed into mountains. The origin of the Maori name for Otautau links to the meeting of the Aparima River and the Otautau Stream The importance of the Takitimu Range to Ngai Tahu is provided by way of topuni, pursuant to the Ngai Tahu Claims Settlements Act 1993. The land in the Otautau area was alienated from Maori through the purchase of the Murihiku Block in 1853. The Murihiku purchase left Maori south of the Waitaki (excluding the Otakou Block) with only 4,630 acres, the start of a long quest by southern Maori for justice questioning the legality of the purchase as well as the inadequacy of the land reserved. Otautau was located along the trail between the south coast and Te Anau. There are a number of find sites and occupation sites in the vicinity of Otautau, but none known to be associated with the block of land in question. Otautau The European settlement of Otautau began as a camping place ‘where the itinerant bullock dray paused only long enough for the wayside greeting’ on the way from Riverton to the interior and to the Lakes District beyond. As a flood of hopeful gold miners made their way to Central Otago in the 1860s, an accommodation house became necessary, leading to the erection of the first building in what was to become Otautau – reported variously to be an accommodation house or wagoner’s shack. The town gradually grew up around these modest beginnings. The land around the town was in large pastoral estates which limited the population growth, and once these had been subdivided, Otautau developed as a rural service centre. The town was surveyed in 1872 and land was set aside in the centre for reserves associated with government buildings. The Police Reserve and the Telegraph Reserve were located next to each other, with the town hall and athenaeum to be located nearby. In 1876 the headquarters of the Wallace County Council were transferred from Riverton to Otautau giving the growing town a sense of civic pride. The Town Board wanted a substantial prosperous-looking town centre, and to encourage this passed a bylaw in 1907 proclaiming that all buildings within a defined area in the centre of town had to be constructed of brick, stone or concrete. Otautau Courthouse Court sittings were initially held in Otautau’s town hall. The Town Board and the magistrates had approached the Government about the urgent need for proper facilities in Otautau. Money was granted for the construction of a courthouse in Otautau in 1906. While the money had been handed over to the Justice Department and plans prepared, the section on which the facility was to be built had been vested in the Postal Department, which ‘declined to transfer it’, maintaining the post office may need to be expanded in the future. There were only a few sections in the hands of the Crown in Otautau and hurried negotiations followed. Otautau’s new post office opened in December 1906. The Premier the Hon. Joseph Ward attended and received a deputation led by Member of the House of Representatives J.C.Thomson about the necessity of having the courthouse constructed on the adjoining site, with the Premier finally agreeing to that request. The District Engineer E.R. Ussher called for tenders for the construction of a timber courthouse in August 1907. As the Town Board had passed a resolution declaring that this part of Otautau was a ‘brick building area’ the Public Works Department acceded to the request that the new building be brick. Tenders for the design in brick were finally called for in April 1908, and a tender for between £1,100 and £1,200. The contractors began work in June 1908. The contractors were Thomson and Georgeson. James Thomson moved to Otautau from Invercargill to take up the construction contract with George Georgeson. The partnership worked on many local projects including the erection of the Yellow Bluff Bridge, and commercial premises for Robertson’s drapery. In addition to their building work they erected a sash and door factory, where they also made furniture, and were considered an important local manufacturer. The Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle reported on the finishing touches as the building neared completion: ‘[t]he courthouse is a solid brick structure, with central entrance leading into a lobby 11ft by 4ft….Turning to the left on entering the visitor finds himself in the courtroom itself, a solidly finished handsome room 36ft by 20ft, with 15ft by 9ft railed off for the public. Within the railing there are the witness box and the dock. Counsel is provided with table and drawer accommodation, while just below the Magistrate’s Bench is the Clerk’s desk. Turning left on entrance from the front is the waiting room for witnesses, and adjoining that is the Public Office, with ample counter room for the public also a large strong room. Immediately behind the Public Office is the Magistrate’s private room, which also communicates with the courtroom.’ The building also contained a toilet facilities and a coal shed. The interior was finished in ‘red pine figured timber’ which was oiled rather than varnished, with a ‘good substantial handsome appearance.’ The walls were plastered, while the ceilings were panelled and painted. Messrs Thomson and Georgeson completed the interior work, and the joinery was manufactured in that firm’s premises in Otautau. The courthouse was completed in early 1909. An opening ceremony was held in the middle of May 1909. Counsel and magistrates expressed their pleasure at being able to administer justice from the ‘much needed’ new building. By the 1920s there were a number of ‘substantial’ buildings in Otautau’s commercial centre, which included the large brick post office as well as the courthouse, giving ‘an air of prosperous stability.’ It was not until the 1960s that the title for the Courthouse was regularised and set apart for a courthouse, finally losing its designation as a site for a telegraph office. Otautau Museum In the early 1980s the Justice Department declared the courthouse was surplus to its requirements. The Wallace County Council eventually acquired it and used it for the Otautau Library. In 1999 the rear toilets were demolished and a lean-to addition to provide storage space and modern kitchen and toilet facilities was constructed. Later it was sold to the Otautau Heritage Trust. It is used for meetings, exhibitions, and workshops by the Otautau & District Creative Arts Trust and the Otautau Museum Trust and according to the museum is one of Otautau’s oldest buildings.

Setting The former Courthouse is located in the small Western Southland town of Otautau, located fifty kilometres north of Invercargill. The Courthouse sits between two empty sections on the east side of Main Street, with modern buildings on either side. Across the road are single storey commercial premises which look to date from the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Further to the north are substantial two storey brick buildings. Exterior Description The Otautau Courthouse is a single-storey double brick building, basically square in plan (12.4 by 11.8m). It is brick construction with brick pillars and infill brick which forms the basis for the decorative scheme of the building. It has a double hipped, corrugated iron roof. The principle elevation faces Main Street with its formally styled Classical façade, with a stripped back Palladian motif. The façade is divided into three bays, the central encompassing the formal double-doored entrance, flanked by symmetrically-placed arched and paired casement windows. The entrance doors are not original. The bays are delineated by pilasters, single on the corners, and paired on either side of the double entrance doors. The toplights in the windows have multiple glazing bars. The arches have keystones and moulded archivolts, with the architrave-cornice forming a horizontal moulded decorative band across the front of the building. The horizontal bands are echoed in the string course. The roofline is concealed behind a square pediment which proclaims the construction date as 1908. The side elevations see a less ornamental version of the main façade, with the structural bays painted a contrasting colour. There are three sets of windows on the north elevation (two three-lights, and one single-light), and two on the south elevation. The rear elevation has a lean-to addition which has a single garage roller door and another access door. There are two chimneys with decorative brick coursing and clay chimney pots. Interior Description The interior walls are generally finished in panelled stained timber to dado height, with plaster above this up to the ceilings. The ceilings are lined with Gib Board. Like other courthouses, the internal spaces were divided into a lobby, courtroom, offices, vault and public counter space. The internal layout is a slightly offset central corridor with access to what was the court room on the north elevation, and into three offices on the south elevation. There is a small strong room. The building now functions as a museum with creative and exhibition space in the courtroom, and further office and exhibition space in the other rooms. The entrance lobby has painted plastered brick walls above timber tongue and groove dado panelling. The skirtings, dado rail, doors and architraves are varnished timber. What was the main court room has similar internal detailing, with a raised floor area at one end delineating what would have been the judge’s bench area. The ceiling has timber panels with timber battens, all painted. There are ornate plaster cornice mouldings. There are two metal ventilation grilles in the ceiling. The original fireplace has been replaced by a built in fire unit. The original fireplace surround and mantle are still in place. The original door furniture is still in place. The front, central, and rear offices are of similar detailing to the former courtroom. In the east wall of the centre office is a cast iron fireplace with varnished timber surround and mantle. In the south/east corner there is a walk in vault with a heavy steel door.