More Dunedin Heritage: Ross Creek Reservoir & Craigieburn Farmstead

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Kia ora,

Due to recent work schedules, it has been difficult for my partner and I to take full advantage of New Zealand's post COVID lockdown freedoms and travel very far beyond Dunedin. Fortunately, within less than an hour's drive of where we live there are plenty of scenic walking tracks, opportunities to view local wildlife, and some fascinating heritage sites!


Ross Creek Reservoir

I mentioned the Ross Creek Reservoir when I talked about the Silverstream Water Race in my last post. This reservoir was created in the 1860s to meet the need for a reliable water management system for the then rapidly growing settlement of Dunedin, becoming New Zealand's first major urban water supply. Built and initially managed by the privately owned Dunedin Waterworks Company (backed by a provincial government guarantee), construction began in August 1865 and was completed in November 1867. The facility was taken over by the Dunedin City Council in 1875. The Ross Creek Earth Dam and Valve Tower are included on The New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero, in recognition of their historical significance. The Ross Creek Reservoir is still in use today and the valve tower and earth dam are the oldest structures of their type still in use in New Zealand. The reservoir has quite high public amenity value, being located in a pleasant forested gully in northern Dunedin that is a favourite walking and jogging area for people from the surrounding suburbs. For those interested, the linked Heritage List entries provide additional historic background information. 

 

Ross Creek Valve Tower. Photo: Author.


Ross Creek Earth Dam. Photo: Author.




Ross Creek Valve Tower, with the Earth Dam visible off in the distance to the north. Photo: Jess M.


Craigieburn Farmstead

Just a short walk from the Ross Creek Reservoir is Craigieburn, an early European colonial subsistence farm. Craigieburn was established by Scottish emigrants William and Elizabeth Rankin, who arrived in Dunedin with their daughter Elizabeth in 1860. The younger Elizabeth (who married and became Elizabeth Sherriff) lived on the property for almost 90 years until her death in 1949 at the age of 93. In recognition of the conservation values of Craigieburn, the farmstead was subsequently purchased by the Dunedin Amenities Society (click on the link for more historical background). Today many of the historical colonial features of the site - including the ruins of a stone farmshed, the cobbled stone and later concrete additions of a cowshed/byre floor and a restored drystone wall - have been conserved along with four hectares of native rimu forest.


Ruins of stone farmshed. Photo: Jess M.

Byre from the northwest. Photo: Author.


Byre from the southwest. Photo: Jess M.


Byre from the southeast. Photo: Author.

Detail of cobbled floor of byre with visible drainage channels. Photo: Author.


Concrete milking area - a late 1920s or early 1930s addition - from the northwest. Photo: Author.


Concrete milking area from the west. Note the drain channels. Photo: Author.


Restored drystone wall to the northeast of the byre. Photo: Author.


View to the south of the byre at Craigieburn, with the Ross Creek Reservoir visible near the centre of the photo. Photo: Author.


This wasn't my first time visiting Craigieburn. Back in 2012 I took part in a University of Otago Anthropology Society archaeological survey day at Craigieburn during which we mapped the byre floor and the site of Elizabeth Sherriff's house (now gone!).     

 

University of Otago Anthropology Society archaeological survey day at Craigieburn in 2012. Top left and bottom right: drawing cobbled floor of byre. Top right and bottom left: plane table surveying.


Thanks for Reading,

Nick

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