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Totara Estate: home to an export industryCarcass
Hanging Shed Totara Estate situated south of Oamaru is an historic farm that is highly significant as the birthplace of New Zealand's billion dollar frozen meat industry. Totara Estate was established during the 1850s and was known for its sheep, cattle and grain. It was purchased by the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, a Glasgow-based company in 1866. Because of the downturn in wool prices during the 1870s, New Zealand pastoralists were extremely interested in the results of the first frozen meat shipment from Australia to Britain in 1880. Once this proved successful, W.S. Davidson, the general manager for the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, began to organise a similar venture from New Zealand. He had a slaughterhouse built at Totara and sent the first
shipment of meat from the estate to Port Chalmers in 1882. The meat was frozen
onboard the ship 'Dunedin', which had a steam-powered Bell-Coleman refrigeration
system installed, and the meat arrived successfully in Britain. By the end of
the 1890s the export of frozen meat had become (and remains) of considerable importance
economically, politically and socially, to New Zealand. In 1980 the Totara Estate farm buildings were purchased by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust/Pouhere Taonga, with the assistance of a number of grants including one from the New Zealand Meat Board. The Trust restored the buildings during 1981-1982, creating displays (housed primarily in the former cookhouse) which illustrate the early history of Totara and the development of the frozen meat industry . Carcass Hanging ShedTotara Estate's carcass hanging shed (or meat house) was built in 1881 as part of Davidson’s plan to ship frozen meat to Britain. Situated adjacent to the slaughterhouse (now demolished) the carcass shed was constructed of Oamaru stone and native timbers, with one slatted wall and a slatted floor which were built to encouraged a free flow of air around the meat.
The slatted floor is open on the southern side to allow the cold southerly winds typical of the area to enter the shed. It also had one large and two small ventilators in the roof to encourage the air circulation. The shed has a hole in the north stone wall, to allow trimmings from the carcasses to be fed directly to the 200-odd pigs kept in the adjacent yards. Originally roofed with shingles, by 1900 the carcass shed was clad in iron, like the other buildings on the property. The carcass shed was connected to the slaughterhouse by covered concrete steps. During the summer of 1881-1882, six butchers each killed around 50 sheep a day in the slaughterhouse. The carcasses were then carried to the carcass shed to hang from wooden racks, the ends of which are inserted into niches in the stone wall, to cool and tenderise. Final trimming took place as they hung, and they continued to hang overnight with fifteen inches of space between them, which allowed for a free passage of air around them.
At 4am each day spring carts took the carcasses from the shed to the Totara railway siding. From here they travelled by steam train to Dunedin (a five-hour journey) and were then frozen on board the 'Dunedin'. Export meat killing continued at Totara until around 1900. The carcass shed was later used to store hay and grass seed, and also as a wool shed. By the 1950s it had began to fall into disrepair. Several parts of the carcass shed were rebuilt during the restoration in 1981-82, including two internal slatted wooden walls, the slatted floor and the roof. Some imitation meat hanging racks were also installed. The carcass shed at Totara was a vital part of that estate’s exporting of frozen meat. It was built specifically to cater for the first frozen meat shipment to leave New Zealand, and remains an interesting example of the relatively primitive technology used in the early days of New Zealand’s frozen meat exports. GranaryAlthough Totara Estate is primarily known for its meat production, hundreds of acres of oats, wheat and barley were also cultivated there. The granary at Totara was built after a severe flood in 1868, in which nine lives were lost. The homestead and other farm buildings were also replaced at this time, on higher ground.
The granary is constructed in Oamaru stone, with an iron roof and concrete floor and a large attractive double door entry with a rounded arch. Stone steps (which date from 1899) lead to the half-loft on the east side of the building. In 1894 an oatcrusher, hopper and hoist were in use in the granary and by 1903 a grain grader and elevator had also been installed. Apparently on wet days the farm workers were occasionally told to go to the granary to sew up oat sacks. Instead they would play cards, with a boy outside on watch for the overseer. The initials of one overseer, A. Fyall, and his wife, are engraved in stone at the top of the granary steps. The granary was principally used for storing grain, but also for social functions. When John MacPherson, the then station manager, married Jeannie Trotter in 1889, the employees held a dance for him and his new wife. In 1896 one wall was temporarily removed so that a marquee could be installed as part of a Harvest Home celebration. According to local residents the tradition of holding barn dances in the granary continued until the 1960s. The preparation of meat for export only occupied one or two months of the year and the granary remains as a reminder of the other work carried out at Totara Estate, such as the cultivation of hundreds of acres of wheat, oats, and barley. It also played an important part in the social life of the surrounding district. The building’s primary significance is, however, as part of the farm from which the first New Zealand shipment of frozen meat left for Britain. Men's Quarters and CookshopThe mens' quarters and cookshop at Totara were built after a severe flood in 1868. Like the other buildings at Totara, the mens’ quarters and cookhouse was built in Oamaru stone with an iron roof. The building is divided into several separate rooms, which include two bunkrooms, a kitchen and a dining room.
At the kitchen end of the building was a large lean-to for coal (now demolished). Outside the kitchen there was a wooden ladder with a bell on a rope, which the cooks rang to bring the men into meals. One of the remaining features of the former kitchen is the large oven and firebox, which is still mostly visible. The bunkrooms were sparsely furnished with wooden bunks and mattresses filled with chaff or oat husks. It is thought that the farmworkers’ clothes were hung from nails on walls and light was provided by candles or lanterns. Many of the workers housed and fed here were swagmen or itinerant workers. At busy times up to thirty swagmen would arrive at Totara hoping for work. There are some well-documented stories about the cooks of Totara, who tended to be Chinese or Indo-Chinese. One in particular, Jimmy Hoey, was notable for being six foot tall, and a good cook of soups. He is also noted for his creation of a confection called a brownie biscuit, like a light fruit cake with a crumbly, sugar topping. The MacPherson children, whose father was the manager of the estate from 1879-1907, are said to have delighted in these.
The cookhouse was later used as a haybarn. The mens’ quarters have been recreated, complete with the wooden bunks, clothes hanging on the walls and boots by the bed. The building which contains the mens’ quarters and cookhouse at Totara was a vital part of Totara Estate. Large numbers of men were needed to run such a large estate in the days before much of the work became mechanised and they, of course, needed to be housed and fed. StablesThe stable building at Totara was a vital part of Totara Estate. During the nineteenth century and into the twentieth large numbers of horses were required to run such a large estate and they needed to be housed and fed. The stables at Totara were also built after the flood in 1868. Like the other buildings at Totara, the stables were constructed in Oamaru stone, with an iron roof. They were built in a L-shape, with the main wing containing the nine stalls and a harness room, with a loft above.
Hay, chaff and oats were stored in the loft and were brought down to the stalls through a bin and chute arrangement. An unusual ladder, with handholds gouged out of Oamaru stone, leads up to the loft and is said to be original. The other wing of the stables consists of a series of open bays, originally used for storing farm implements; in 1896 it was converted to a five-stall stable. The building was cobbled throughout with a riverstone floor. As far as can be ascertained, the southeast corner of the stables was used for breaking-in horses. There were two rings for tethering horses here although now only one remains. The harness room, at the west end of the building, was, at one time, used as a bedroom by one of the grooms, George Moncrieff. The remains of 1902 newspapers can be seen on the wall here. Horses were essential in nineteenth century New Zealand as a means of transportation. For farmers, horses were also vital for mustering stock, and on farms that grew grain, for ploughing, reaping and binding. It is thought that as many as 30 plough horses were housed in the Totara stables during the estate’s greatest extent and there is anecdotal evidence that some were bred for export to Australia in the later years of the nineteenth century. Lighter horses were also used at Totara and housed in the stables. The main wing of the stables was converted to a woolshed by the Ewings, who bought Totara in 1920. The Trust restored the buildings during 1981-1982 and the stable now houses old farm implements and saddlery. ReferenceThe entries
researched and written by Melanie Lovell-Smith, Heritage Researcher for the on-line
Register of historic places, historic areas, wahi tapu and wahi tapu areas. |
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