Homebush Station

2142 Homebush Road, Homebush Station, DARFIELD

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Homebush Station complex, at 2142 Homebush Road, near Darfield, has clear and continuing links to pivotal early European settlers in Canterbury, the Deans family, and forms an outstanding example as a collection of early European settlement station buildings and structures in New Zealand. Homebush Station was taken up in October 1851 by William and John Deans, the Scottish brothers who first farmed on the Canterbury (Port Cooper) Plains at Riccarton in 1843. When the settlement of Christchurch subsequently was planned by the Canterbury Association, the Deans’ exchanged some of their land as the city’s site for a large 33,000 acre run in the Malvern Hills, some under 38 miles (60 kilometres) from their Riccarton base. This was the first hill run to be allocated by the Canterbury Association and it was soon named Homebush by the Deans. Rudimentary buildings were first erected by station workers in the early years and as the complex developed, a series of particularly fine buildings were built. Most of the latter are of red brick, at first made from brick from kiln-firing on site and later from the family owned brickworks, the Homebush Brick and Tile Works located nearby at Glentunnel. These somewhat grand brick buildings are complemented by timber structures and landscaping planted up gradually over numerous decades. Key surviving components of the Homebush Station complex are: Apple House (former Laundry, Bakehouse and Dairy); Brick Bridge; Sheep Dip; Pig Sties; Stables, Water Tower, Turbine and Grain Store Building; Woolshed; Shearers’ Quarters/Whare; Cottage called ‘The Bothy’; Mound Cottage; and the garden structure as laid out in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including water courses and associated reservoir, tunnels, and the area of the skating pond. On the property are numerous Chattels that belonged directly to the Deans or to other family members associated with Homebush. The brick Homestead was severely damaged by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on 4 September 2010. The continuing and unbroken ownership of Homebush Station by the Deans family since 1851 through to the present time tells an important story of early colonial settlement and pastoral history in Canterbury. Historic structures, set in a rural landscape with well established and noteworthy historic plantings, include a series of impressive brick station buildings as well as other features dating from the early 1850s onwards. The Stables, Water Tower, Turbine and Grain Store Building within the group adds a special quality both as an unusual example as a building combination and for its rare (possibly unique) turbine. The Pig Sties also have rarity value.

Homebush Station | Malcolm Duff | 01/06/2009 | NZ Historic Places Trust
Aerial photograph of Homebush Station | Kevin L Jones | 02/11/2009 | Kevin L Jones Archaeologist Ltd

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 1

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

9483

Date Entered

10th October 2010

Date of Effect

10th October 2010

City/District Council

Selwyn District

Region

Canterbury Region

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes part of the land described as Pt Lot 1 DP 2898, Sec 5 Res 1600 and Pt RS 10058 (RT CB34C/993), Pt Sec 4 Res 1600 (RT CB20F/1170) and RS 38156 (RT CB 637/95) Canterbury Land District and the buildings and structures known as the Apple House (former Laundry, Bakehouse and Dairy); Brick Bridge; Sheep Dip; Pig Sties; Stables, Water Tower, Turbine and Grain Store Building; Woolshed; Shearers' Quarters/Whare; Cottage called 'The Bothy'; Mound Cottage; and the garden structure as laid out in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including water courses and associated reservoir, tunnels, and the area of the skating pond, associated with Homebush Station thereon, and its fittings and fixtures and a range of chattels. (Refer to Section 2.3 of this report for a fuller discussion on Chattels, and refer to map in Appendix 1 of the registration report for further information on the physical extent of registration).. All the buildings on the Homebush farm as well as the land between the stables and the woolshed.

Legal description

Pt Lot 1 DP 2898, Sec 5 Res 1600 and Pt RS 10058 (RT CB34C/993), Pt Sec 4 Res 1600 (RT CB20F/1170) and RS 38156 (RT CB 637/95) Canterbury Land District.

Location Description

The main access to the property is via a brick entrance gateway on the north side of Homebush Road.

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