New Zealand history is abundant in the
Coromandel Peninsula due to its gold mining, logging and gum digging past. The
region has very little flat land and is covered in dense forest fringed with beautiful
beaches.
When Captain Cook visited its waters in 1769 to observe the transit
of Mercury, the region was already well populated and traces of pre-European settlement
can still be found. The Coromandel’s extensive kauri forests were exploited
for logs from the early nineteenth until well into the twentieth century. Kauri
gum was also a highly prized product found in the region. Gold was discovered
here in 1852 and was Coromandel’s most valuable resource for almost one hundred
years. Many reminders and relics of this time can be seen in the buildings, museums
and mining sites that still exist today.
Thames School of Mines
Cnr of Brown and
Cochrane Streets, Thames
In 1885-1886 some 30 schools of mines were formed to
provide practical instruction to goldminers working in the quartz fields. Opened
in 1886, this was the largest and one of the longest surviving. Later buildings
included the 1888 experimental works, where prospectors’ ores were crushed
and tested. After the near exhaustion of the Thames goldfield, the school broadened
its curriculum, including electricity, engineering, agriculture, pharmacy and
other subjects. After the school closed in 1954, the mineralogical museum, founded
in 1900 and one of Australasia’s most significant, remained open to the public.
The Historic Places Trust acquired the complex in 1979.
Open: daily 11am-3pm until Easter. Wednesday to Sunday 11am
- 3pm during winter.
Closed Christmas Day and Good Friday.
Tours at other times by arrangement
