Oamaru Harbour Historic Area

OAMARU

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Oamaru Harbour is New Zealand's only surviving authentic Victorian/Edwardian deepwater port, paralleling the town's uniquely intact colonial architectural inheritance. In colonial New Zealand, ports were fundamental to the local and regional economy. The success of the town and the rural industries can only be understood in the context of the construction of a successful port on what had been a hazardous coastline. Oamaru's harbour, built in defiance of natural limitations and at great cost, exemplifies not only the extent to which communities took pride in their ports, but also the way the harbour underpinned the economy of North Otago. The harbour is the key to understanding the historical, economic and social heritage of Oamaru and its hinterland. Until the completion of the first stage of the breakwater in the mid 1870s, Oamaru was notorious for the number of shipwrecks that took place there. Completion of the breakwater and Sumpter Wharf in 1884 enabled Oamaru to play a significant role in the new frozen meat trade. The port is associated with many famous early meat trade ships, including the Dunedin and the Elderslie, the first NZ-UK refrigerated steamer, built to run between Oamaru and London. Because the port closed to commercial shipping at the end of the conventional shipping era in 1974, it retains a unique assortment of heritage wharves, seawalls, sheds, rails and other features. The proposed Oamaru Harbour Historic Area provides vital physical and historical context for the already registered Oamaru Historic Area (7064). Oamaru's distinctive architectural character was based on wealth from the land, which found its local and export trade outlets through the port at Oamaru.

Oamaru Harbour Historic Area. c.2008 Image corutesy of www.pixnz.com | Gordon Barney | Gordon Barney
Oamaru Harbour Historic Area. Plan of Historic Area from registration report. | 02/04/2004 | Heritage New Zealand
Oamaru Harbour Historic Area. Sumpter Wharf. Image courtesy of www.flickr.com | Hugh McCall | 15/08/2015 | Hugh McCall
Oamaru Harbour Historic Area. Red Shed part of Oamaru Harbour historic area. Image courtesy of www.flickr.com | Derek Smith - travelling-light | 04/01/2008 | Derek Smith
Oamaru Harbour Historic Area. c.1900 Maclay, Adam Henry Pearson, 1873-1955 :Negatives. Ref: 1/1-024012-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22880969 | Adam MacLay | No Known Copyright Restrictions

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Area

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

7536

Date Entered

4th April 2004

Date of Effect

4th April 2004

City/District Council

Waitaki District

Region

Otago Region

Extent of List Entry

The historic area includes the following features: all the pre-1960s seawalls; wharves; slipways; port sheds and buildings; port-related features such as mooring chains, bollards etc; significant port-related moveable cultural property such as steam cranes; quarries; monuments; rail lines, rail footbridge and archaeological features.

Legal description

The historic area covers features included within the following parcels: - Pt Sec 27 Blk III, Town of Oamaru, (OTB1/773) - Pt Sec 27 Blk III, Town of Oamaru (in OT181/297) - Lots 1-7 DP 18767, as part of the Oamaru Harbour Board land crown grant issued 1878 ( including the railway footbridge and access ramps to Holmes Wharf and Marine Parade) (OTB1/773) - Lot 1 DP 12415 (OTB1/773) - Lots 2-12 DP 6515, (OT15B/1185) - Lots 1-2 DP 8582 (OT393/72) - Sec 79, SO 21075 (NZ Gazette 1985, p.2292. set aside as a government purposes reserve (site for lighthouse)) - Sec 80 Blk IV, Oamaru SD, SO 21705, local purposes reserve (Wanbrow plantation), NZ Gazette 1986, p.1202. - Pt sec 1 SO 24014, NZ Gazette 1994, p.3180. set apart as scenic reserve (Bushy Park Scenic Reserve) - Pt Res A, Town of Oamaru (quarry site), OT20/272 - Part Railway Land Blk III Town of Oamaru, Local Purposes Reserve, NZ Gazette 1999, p.1847. (including part of the land previously in OT78/83, part cancelled) - Pt Railway Res Borough of Oamaru OT220/203) including the rail lines and land on which rail footbridge stands) - Pt Railway Land Blk III Town of Oamaru, Local Purposes Reserve (Historic) NZ Gazette, 1997, p.3106. Specifically the land on which the Oamaru Railway Footbridge stands, including ramps (marked "D" on SO 24832) - Pt Railway Land Blk III Town of Oamaru, specifically the land on which the Oamaru rail footbridge stands, which is partly on the land marked "D" noted above, and part on the adjoining land as described in this paragraph - Legal Road: Marine Parade (also known as Esplanade) and part of Waterfront Road (Parcel id 3180569; 3181213 Land on Line) - Closed Road Town of Oamaru (Parcel id: 3146759, Land on Line)

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