Gabriel's Gully was the site of the first major gold find in Otago which led to the gold rushes of the early 1860s which transformed the province, making it the wealthiest in New Zealand. Following on the heels of the Californian rushes in the late 1840's, and the Victorian rushes in Australia in the 1850's, miners poured into Otago, beginning at Gabriel's Gully, and over £6,000,000 of gold was produced from the four major fields in five years. Dunedin became the largest city in New Zealand, and the influx of miners pushed the South Island population ahead of the North.
Prospector Gabriel Read (1825-1894) found gold in the gully on 25 May 1861. Read was equipped with a 'tin dish, a butcher's knife and a spade' digging in the creek bed. After working through a metre of gravel Read reached soft slate, and in his well known words 'saw the gold shining like the stars in Orion on a dark frosty night.' This discovery changed the future of Otago.
Hundreds of people left their jobs and flocked to the gold field; 256 ships arrived at Port Chalmers in 1861 carrying hopeful prospectors. There was a 100km walk between Dunedin and the Tuapeka gold fields in often harsh conditions carrying supplies.
Early photographs of Gabriel's Gully show a scattering of tents on the valley floor and the lower slopes of the surrounding hills, with piles of stones from the individual workings like mole hills across the valley floor. The first claims were 24 ft (8m) square, worked with a cradle or pan to separate the gold from the wash dirt. The life of the alluvial gold miner is the stuff of national imagination: their distinctive lifestyle based around chasing the illusive ore, working hard, playing equally hard, with a sense of adventure, shaped the identity of Central Otago.
Gold returns from Lawrence (and this is not just the Gabriel's Gully field) were 171,038 ounces in 1861 and 199,547 ounces in 1862, thereafter dropping away. As a consequence Otago became the wealthiest and most populated province in the country.
By 1863 this was no longer a field for individual miners as more elaborate technology was required to extract the gold. Companies were formed and sluicing and later, blasting, became the dominant method of mining. By 1865 there were 542 miles of water races at the Tuapeka goldfields.
Mining using hydraulic elevating began at Gabriel's Gully in the 1880s enabling old tailings to be reworked with a small labour force. Seven major companies were involved in the 1880s. These ventures were combined into the Blue Spur and Gabriel's Gully Consolidated Company in 1888. This company operated until 1912 when it was finally wound up having won 51,500 oz gold.
In 1911 the jubilee of Gabriel Read's discovery was celebrated with processions and a reunion of the 280 surviving miners from 1861. Over 2500 people attended the festivities.
There was some mining during the Depression years of the 1930s when individual miners returned to the 1860s technology, mining with pick, shovel, pan and cradle. Mining finally ended in that decade, making Gabriel's Gully and the associated Blue Spur the longest operative goldfield in Otago.
In 1975 the New Zealand Forest Service took over management of Gabriel's Gully recognised as 'one of the most significant historic goldfields in New Zealand', and set aside enclaves as historic reserves, the main reserve centring on Gabriel's Gully itself. An archaeological survey was completed in 1979-1980, using mining records, plans and specifications of surviving structures, aerial photographs, a site survey, and oral history.
In the early 1980s the reserves transferred to the Department of Lands and Survey, and became part of the Otago Goldfields Park. Since 1987 the reserve has been administered by the Department of Conservation.
In 2003 the Gabriel's Gully reserve was rededicated by Conservation Minister Chris Carter. In 2007 the Department of Conservation surveyed the area in preparation for a planned upgrade of the track system and interpretation in time for the 150th anniversary 2011. In 2008 the Clutha District Council and the local community at Lawrence are gearing up for the celebration.
Gabriel's Gully is located immediately to the north of the small Clutha District town of Lawrence. The Gully itself is some four kilometres long. The cumulative effect of the mining on the landscape is dramatic. An entire hillside was removed, and over 400 miles of water races cut. More than a dozen reservoirs were made. Many archaeological remains are evident. The original valley floor lies around 50 metres below the present level due to the accumulation of tailings. Gabriel's Gully has a large number of archaeological features relating to the gold mining. These include Pollard's Dam, water races, powder magazines, sluicing faces, mine shafts, remains of stamper batteries, tailing races, tailing piles, and remains associated with hydraulic elevating.
Gabriel's Gully has outstanding archaeological, historical and technological significance as the place where in May 1861 Gabriel Read discovered the first payable goldfield in Otago, starting off a string of discoveries which transformed Dunedin and Otago, and providing insight into the associated mining technologies.
Prospector Gabriel Read (1825-1894) found gold in the gully on 25 May 1861. Read was equipped with a 'tin dish, a butcher's knife and a spade' digging in the creek bed. After working through a metre of gravel Read reached soft slate, and in his well known words 'saw the gold shining like the stars in Orion on a dark frosty night.' This discovery changed the future of Otago.
Hundreds of people left their jobs and flocked to the gold field; 256 ships arrived at Port Chalmers in 1861 carrying hopeful prospectors. There was a 100km walk between Dunedin and the Tuapeka gold fields in often harsh conditions carrying supplies.
Early photographs of Gabriel's Gully show a scattering of tents on the valley floor and the lower slopes of the surrounding hills, with piles of stones from the individual workings like mole hills across the valley floor. The first claims were 24 ft (8m) square, worked with a cradle or pan to separate the gold from the wash dirt. The life of the alluvial gold miner is the stuff of national imagination: their distinctive lifestyle based around chasing the illusive ore, working hard, playing equally hard, with a sense of adventure, shaped the identity of Central Otago.
Gold returns from Lawrence (and this is not just the Gabriel's Gully field) were 171,038 ounces in 1861 and 199,547 ounces in 1862, thereafter dropping away. As a consequence Otago became the wealthiest and most populated province in the country.
By 1863 this was no longer a field for individual miners as more elaborate technology was required to extract the gold. Companies were formed and sluicing and later, blasting, became the dominant method of mining. By 1865 there were 542 miles of water races at the Tuapeka goldfields.
Mining using hydraulic elevating began at Gabriel's Gully in the 1880s enabling old tailings to be reworked with a small labour force. Seven major companies were involved in the 1880s. These ventures were combined into the Blue Spur and Gabriel's Gully Consolidated Company in 1888. This company operated until 1912 when it was finally wound up having won 51,500 oz gold.
In 1911 the jubilee of Gabriel Read's discovery was celebrated with processions and a reunion of the 280 surviving miners from 1861. Over 2500 people attended the festivities.
There was some mining during the Depression years of the 1930s when individual miners returned to the 1860s technology, mining with pick, shovel, pan and cradle. Mining finally ended in that decade, making Gabriel's Gully and the associated Blue Spur the longest operative goldfield in Otago.
In 1975 the New Zealand Forest Service took over management of Gabriel's Gully recognised as 'one of the most significant historic goldfields in New Zealand', and set aside enclaves as historic reserves, the main reserve centring on Gabriel's Gully itself. An archaeological survey was completed in 1979-1980, using mining records, plans and specifications of surviving structures, aerial photographs, a site survey, and oral history.
In the early 1980s the reserves transferred to the Department of Lands and Survey, and became part of the Otago Goldfields Park. Since 1987 the reserve has been administered by the Department of Conservation.
In 2003 the Gabriel's Gully reserve was rededicated by Conservation Minister Chris Carter. In 2007 the Department of Conservation surveyed the area in preparation for a planned upgrade of the track system and interpretation in time for the 150th anniversary 2011. In 2008 the Clutha District Council and the local community at Lawrence are gearing up for the celebration.
Gabriel's Gully is located immediately to the north of the small Clutha District town of Lawrence. The Gully itself is some four kilometres long. The cumulative effect of the mining on the landscape is dramatic. An entire hillside was removed, and over 400 miles of water races cut. More than a dozen reservoirs were made. Many archaeological remains are evident. The original valley floor lies around 50 metres below the present level due to the accumulation of tailings. Gabriel's Gully has a large number of archaeological features relating to the gold mining. These include Pollard's Dam, water races, powder magazines, sluicing faces, mine shafts, remains of stamper batteries, tailing races, tailing piles, and remains associated with hydraulic elevating.
Gabriel's Gully has outstanding archaeological, historical and technological significance as the place where in May 1861 Gabriel Read discovered the first payable goldfield in Otago, starting off a string of discoveries which transformed Dunedin and Otago, and providing insight into the associated mining technologies.
