Quartz Reef Point Heritage Assessment, Central Otago, New Zealand.

Heritage Assessment

Quartz Reef Point NZAA Site No. G41/554

Central Otago New Zealand

Peter Petchey

Southern Archaeology Ltd 2015

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Cover Ilustration: Quartz Reef Point tailings, Kevin L. Jones aerial image 1991. Peer review statement Assessment prepared by: Peter Petchey, Southern Archaeology Ltd., Dunedin Date: 12/08/2015 Assessment reviewed by: Neville Ritchie, Department of Conservation. Date: 14/08/2015

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Table of Contents 1.0! Site Overview .................................................................................................................... 4!2.0! Setting ................................................................................................................................ 8!3.0! History of Quartz Reef Point ........................................................................................... 11!

The Otago Goldrushes .......................................................................................................... 11!Quartz Reef Point ................................................................................................................. 13!Post-Abandonment Management History ............................................................................ 17!Chronology ........................................................................................................................... 19!

4.0! Physical Description ........................................................................................................ 20!Site Description .................................................................................................................... 20!The Technology & Mining Sequence .................................................................................. 27!

5.0! Cultural Connections ....................................................................................................... 29!6.0! Contextual Analysis ........................................................................................................ 32!7.0! Assessment of Significance ............................................................................................. 36!7.1! Historical Significance .................................................................................................... 37!7.2! Physical Significance ...................................................................................................... 37!7.3! Cultural Significance ....................................................................................................... 39!7.4! Summary of Significance ................................................................................................ 39!8.0! Comparative Analysis ..................................................................................................... 41!9.0! References ....................................................................................................................... 44!

Acknowledgements This report was started by Anita Middlemiss of the Department of Conservation, and she carried out some of the intial research and a site visit. The final report preparation, further research and another site visit was carried out by Peter Petchey.

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1.0 Site Overview AMIS Functional Location: DS-83-300-6067 The Quartz Reef Point Historic Reserve protects what is probably the best set of surviving herringbone tailings in the Otago Goldfields. The reserve is located on a terrace on the south side of the Clutha River (now Lake Dunstan), about five kilometres north-west of Cromwell, in Central Otago (Figures 1, 2 & 3). The tailings are also known as the Northburn Tailings, after Northburn Station on which they were located until the historic reserve was created in 1978. They are easily accessible from State Highway 8 between Cromwell and Tarras via a walking track that leads up to the reserve from a signposted roadside carpark.

Figure 1 The location of the Quartz Reef Point Historic Reserve. The tailings represent a very distinctive form of alluvial gold mining hand-placed tailings that were created when shallow alluvial ground-sluicing was carried out during and after the Otago gold rushes of the 1860s. Later hydraulic sluicing and elevating gold mining operations left behind much larger amorphous tailings and worked areas, where the efforts of individual miners are less apparent and the industrial nature is dominant.

The Legal Description of the reserve is Lot 1 DP 16004. The Reserve comprises 13.5568 ha of land on a river terrace on the true left of Lake Dunstan (Clutha River), 280-309m asl. The reserve is an actively managed historic place by the Department of Conservation. The tailings are included in the Otago Goldfields Park, which is administered by the Department of Conservation. The tailings are recorded as New Zealand Archaeological Association (NZAA) site G41/554 (originally S133/164). Other nearby recorded archaeological sites are associated with gold mining and pastoral farming (Figure 4 and Table 1).

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The tailings were registered by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (now Heritage New Zealand) as a Category 2 historic place, Registration No. 5618 (now List No. 5618). The tailings are listed in the Central Otago District Council Schedule 19.4, Item 169 and Schedule 19.10, Item 8.

Figure 2 The location of the Quartz Reef Point Historic Reserve near Cromwell in Central Otago

(from NZTopo50, CB13 Tarras & CC13 Alexandra).

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Figure 3 Extent of the Quartz Ref Point Historic Reserve (in light green)(Walking Access Mapping System). Note cultivation of land above the workings to the east, which

resulted in the loss of water supply races and dams servicing the workings

N Quartz Reef Point Historic Reserve

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Figure 4 Map showing the location of recorded archaeological sites in the vicinity of the Quartz Reef Point Historic Reserve (www.archsite.org).

Table 1 Recorded archaeological sites in the vicinity of Quartz Reef Point (Figure 3 above).

Site No. Description G41/32 Water race G41/33 Sluice tailings G41/35 Stone chimney G41/36 Stone structure G41/107 Rockshelter G41/112 Stone structures G41/113 Stone structures G41/114 Stockyard & wall G41/115 Stone buildings G41/146 Dam G41/147 Mud brick hut G41/148 Water race G41/149 Sluiced gully G41/150 Water race G41/151 Mine drive G41/554 Quartz Reef Point tailings (reserve)

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2.0 Setting The Quartz Reef Point Historic Reserve is located on an alluvial terrace above the true left of Lake Dunstan (the Clutha River), about five kilometres north of Cromwell, just off State Highway 8 between Cromwell and Tarras. The general setting is typical of this area of Central Otago, which is arid and rocky grassland with scattered tussock, briar and matagouri scrub, and the combination of the arid conditions and stock and rabbit grazing keeps the sward low. The Dunstan Mountains rise to the east of the river. However, it is important to note that the setting has changed drastically since the gold rush era, the single most significant event being the creation of Lake Dunstan in the 1990s as the Clyde Dam was completed and filled. The area originally known as Quartz Reef Point was inundated under the waters. Many of the landscape features that would have been familiar to earlier residents of the area, such as the Lowburn Bridge and Hotel, the extensive dredge tailings along the river banks, and the numerous small islands in the river, have all ceased to exist. Any research and historical/archaeological interpretation of the area has to take into account these geographical changes. Figures 5 and 6 illustrate this landscape change.

Figure 5 (Left) NZMS 1 S133 Cromwell, 1st edition 1969. Figure 6 (Right) NZTopo50 CB13 Tarras & CC13 Alexandra, 2013.

Within this altered landscape, the Historic Reserve comprises 13.5568 ha of primarily herringbone patterned tailings and associated features such as head races, sluice races, tail races and hut remains. The reserve is bounded on all sides by Northburn Station, and public walking access is via an existing 4WD farm track from a designated carpark on State

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Highway 8. The Reserve is not visible to travellers on State Highway 8, but the tail races running downhill from the tailings to the Clutha River can be glimpsed by travellers on the State Highway. On the east side of the Historic Reserve there is an extensive area of flat ground that was once the location of water reservoirs and head races that fed the workings (Figure 7), but it has been ploughed and border-dyked (sometime after 1985) and now contains little or no archaeological value (Figure 8). Aerial photographs taken prior to this development work allow some study of the system to still be done. To the south of the reserve a series of smaller sluice gullies lie along the terrace edge, and these still exist.

Figure 7 The full array of ground sluicing gullies at Northburn in 1968. The historic reserve

contains the large set of tailing in the upper centre of this image (Kevin Jones).

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Figure 8 Vertical aerial photograph of Quartz Reef Point taken in 2013, showing the herringbone tailings (centre of view), with Lake Dunstan (Clutha River) and State Highway 8 on the left and border-dyked farmland on the right. This farmland was the location of some of

the reservoirs and races that supplied water to the workings (Google Earth). Therefore, the setting of the Quartz Reef Point (Northburn) tailings, while still reminiscent of the Central Otago landscape, has in fact changed in many ways since the 1970s. Both the landscape setting and the mining infrastructure (water races, reservoirs etc) setting have considerably changed, and are likely to continue to change as agricultural and lifestyle development continues in the area.

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3.0 History of Quartz Reef Point The Otago Goldrushes In Otago and Southland there had been hints of the presence of gold as early as 1849, and small amounts were found throughout the 1850s (OPC V&P Session XVI 1862: 15-16; Salmon 1963: 46). There was official resistance to the thought of a goldrush from the Otago establishment, but after the Nelson goldfields threatened to lure Otago labourers away attitudes began to change, and in December 1858 the Otago Provincial Council offered a reward of £500 for the discovery of a payable goldfield (Pyke 1962: 14; Salmon 1963: 47). During 1858 Alexander Garvie found gold in the Lindis River, and Edward Peters (‘Black Peter’) found gold in a number of places, including Evans Flat and Woolshed Creek. The first rush in Otago occurred at the Lindis Pass in 1861 when workmen found gold while building a road, and 300 men were there by the end of April, but winter and the events at Gabriel’s Gully (Figure 9) brought it to a rapid end (Pyke 1962: 22).

Figure 9 The diggings at Gabriel’s Gully in 1862. It can be seen from this view how the very earliest goldrush diggings consisted of numerous individual pits and piles of spoil.

Larger area workings, such as those now within the Quartz Reef Point Historic Reserve, reflect a later phase when miners typically worked together in parties or for companies,

and contracted or built substantial water races and storage dams to enable ground sluicing to be undertaken.

Gabriel Read was an Australian and a veteran of both the Californian and Victorian goldfields (Hearn in Oliver ed. 1990: 358), and while following up on some of Edward Peter’s discoveries he made his discovery of gold at Tuapeka in May 1861. By the beginning of August 1861 at least 2,000 men were camped at Gabriel’s Gully, and in mid-September J.T. Thomson estimated that there were 3,000 men in the gully and 6,000 in the overall area (OPC Gazette 26th September 1861: 238; Salmon 1963: 54). Between December 1860 and December 1861 the population of Otago rose from 12,691 to 30,269, and by the 1870s

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Dunedin had grown to become New Zealand’s largest city (King 2003: 209; OPC V&P Session XVI 1862: 17). Goldfields regulations were issued in late 1861, but were substantially revised by Vincent Pyke (who had been active in the development of Victorian goldfields legislation) the following year, with an increase in allowable claim size from 24 feet square to 45 feet square being one important change (Gold Fields Act 1862: II, 2; Pyke 1962: 61; Salmon 1963: 67). In 1862 an even larger rush struck Otago, after two Californian miners, Horatio Hartley and Christopher Reilly, walked into the office of the Dunedin gold receiver and deposited 1,047 oz. of gold that they had recovered from the beaches of the Molyneux (now Clutha) River a short distance downstream from where Cromwell now stands (Hearn, in Oliver (ed.) 1990: 178; OPC V&P Session XVI 1862: 18; Salmon 1963: 80). By September 5th some 3,000 men had arrived at the Dunstan, the goldfield was proclaimed on 23rd September, and prospectors quickly moved further afield and found gold in the Nokomai, Shotover and Arrow Rivers (OPC V&P Session XVI 1862: 19; Salmon 1963 : 81, 83). By 1869 seven Otago goldfields had been declared: Tuapeka, Dunstan, Teviot, Nokomai, Wakatipu, Mt. Ida and Taieri (Salmon 1963: 101).

Figure 10 “Gold-diggers out prospecting” in 1863. This engraving from the Illustrated London

News (14th November 1863) gave English readers an idea of the experience of the diggers in Central Otago.

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Quartz Reef Point The exact history of the tailings within the Quartz Reef Point Historic Reserve remains unknown, and the people responsible and date they were working there is not known. To relate the history of any one specific area of working in the goldfields is always difficult, and relies largely on the identification of historic maps or goldfields administration documents to pinpoint where specific claims and miners were operating. Archives New Zealand lists 380 documents for Quartz Reef Point (search on www.archway.archives.govt.nz), the majority being goldfields records from 1863 until the early years of the twentieth century. A review of a selection of these shows that site locations are generally given in words, and exact association with a specific location today would not be possible. The detailed search of all of these records might well be extremely enlightening with regard to the Quartz Reef Point reserve tailings, but would be extremely time consuming and outside the scope of this report. The account below deals with the more general mining history of the locality, derived from published accounts in the annual Mines Department reports and newspaper stories. Also note that many of the areas discussed in the historic records are now under the waters of Lake Dunstan (see discussion in Setting above). Quartz Reef Point was named after several well-defined quartz reefs found in the area (Otago Witness, 7th August 1869: 15; 15th August 1874: 6), but it was always regarded as an alluvial mining area (although the reefs were prospected at various times). The terraces of the Manuherikia and Upper Clutha valleys were known to be auriferous from the earliest days of the gold rushes, but the heavy overburden and lack of timber made tunnelling difficult (although it was undertaken at times) (OPC V&P Session XVII 1863: 11; Otago Witness 11th March 1897: 31). Sluicing was the obvious approach for mining these terraces, but the lack of water was always one of the constraints on alluvial mining at Quartz Reef Point. Another issue for these higher workings was the disposal of tailings, as the lower ground that would be used for depositing tailings was privately owned, and in addition the public road also crossed this ground and would be covered by any large scale tailings discharge (Otago Witness 1st August 1895: 17). In addition, reports from Quartz Reef Point were always variable, and in 1892 the Otago Witness (17th November 1892: 14) commented that ‘Quartz Reef Point has always proved patchy.’ This concatenation of circumstances meant that gold mining at Quartz Reef Point continued for many years, but always proved variable in its results. It is likely that alluvial goldmining first began around Quartz Reef Creek, then part of the vast Morven Hills Run, at the end of 1862 as prospectors moved up the east bank of the Clutha from its confluence with the Kawarau River. Most claims were worked by individuals of small parties. John Perriam had his first Welcome Home Hotel and store nearby to cater for the scores of miners present, but later he moved it to a new site across the Clutha River at Lowburn, where he had established a ferry service (see Figure 11) (Smith 1990). One early claim at Quartz Reef Point was that of the Nil Desperandum company, which in 1864 had built a dam across the eastern channel of the Clutha at each end of Nobby Island, thus hoping to expose several hundred metres of riverbed (Otago Witness 1 October 1864: 13; 24 December 1864: 13). The 240 metre upstream dam was actually completed but was carried away by flood in January 1866 and the project was abandoned (Otago Witness 10th June 1865: 11; 12th August 1865: 8; Smith 1990). Later, in 1874, the company worked the rich terraces flanking the river.

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Figure 11 Extract from Survey Office plan SO 1982 ‘Topographical sketch of Wakefield District’

(undated). This shows the location of Quartz Reef Point and the Lowburn Ferry Reserve, together with some of the islands in the Clutha River.

Other parties of miners worked the banks, gullies and terraces around Quartz Reef Point, and they dug races to bring water to the area. Archives New Zealand holds a number of water race licence applications made in 1864 (DADO/23193/D589), which suggests that work was well underway by that date. The best returns in the mid 1860s appear to have been from the small gullies running down from the Dunstan Range, while (as discussed above) the higher terraces were harder to work (Otago Witness, 19 August 1865: 7). In 1865, the mining surveyor J.J. Coates reported:

‘At Quartz Reef Point, mining operations have continued to progress rapidly, and this locality now presents one of the busiest scenes throughout the district. The bank claims of Novello, Harris and McLean and parties still continue to be most systematically worked on the hydraulic principle, and are, beyond a doubt, the most perfectly conducted mining operations which I have seen.’ (AJHR 1865 C4A: 9).

However, the patchy nature of the auriferous ground at Quartz Reef Point is reflected in the changing tone of the reports on the place. In mid-1865 a sluicing party at Quartz Reef Point, with the colourful name of ‘Yankee Dan’s party,’ were very successful and cleared £14 per week per man for a period (Otago Witness 20th May 1865: 5). But only three months later the Otago Witness (12th August 1865: 11) stated that the sluicing companies were ‘barely earning wages,’ although they were determined to continue working their claims. In the early 1870s

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work appears to have been steady and reasonably remunerative (Otago Witness 16th November 1872: 9), but there was a brief flurry of activity in September and October 1891 when some patches of rich ground were found, and Werner and party obtained 2lb weight of gold from a small paddock (Otago Witness 8th October 1891: 15). Later in the year newspaper reports reverted to describing quiet steady work, and throughout the 1890s reports continued to reflect the changing fortunes of the miners due to the patchy ground. For example, another patch of rich ground was struck in March/April 1895, when Tillman and Partridge cleared £10 per man per week for eight weeks work, and in June there was even a ‘mild rush’ after the Scoles Brothers found good ground, but this excitement did not last the month (Otago Witness 25th April 1895: 19; 20th June 1895: 19; 27th June 1895: 18). Another rush was reported in 1898/99 (Otago Witness 19th January 1899: 27). There was resurgence of interest in Quartz Reef Point from about 1907, and in 1908 the Inspector of Mines reported that negotiations were underway to work a large alluvial deposit at Quartz Reef Point, although once again sluicing operations locally had been hampered by a lack of water (AJHR 1908 C3: 39; Otago Witness 4th September 1907: 26). Messrs Laffey and McPherson were reported to have taken up ground on a terrace several hundred feet above the river, and had obtained rights for water from Quartz Reef Creek, and leased additional water from Northburn Creek. Reports stated that they were intending to work the terrace by ground sluicing, although descriptions of the penstocks and available pressure of 250ft indicate that they were also using hydraulic sluicing (Otago Witness 23rd October 1907: 28). The Quartz Reef Point Sluicing Company was established in 1908 to work the claims, and it operated a hydraulic elevating plant (Otago Witness 3rd November 1909: 28). In 1911 the company was placed in liquidation, and the claims, water race licences and plant & tools were offered for sale, and were sold at auction to a Mr Hutton for £350 (Otago Daily Times 16th March 1911: 12; 25th March 1911: 11; Quartz Reef Point Sluicing Company company records). Of note is that the sale advertisements mentioned that the Sluicing Claim No. 2554 (1 acre) was situated between Riley’s Revival Claim and John Laffey’s claim, indicating that a number of separate parties were still working at Quartz Reef Point at that date. The company restarted work under new ownership in October 1911 (Otago Daily Times 25th October 1911: 9). A Dunedin Hydraulic Sluicing Company was reported to be working at Quartz Reef Point in 1911, and it is not clear whether this was the same company, a successor, or a different body (Otago Daily Times 9th November 1911: 9). Whatever the case, this company was in liquidation by June 1912, and its assets were advertised for sale by tender (Otago Daily Times 24th June 1912: 7). In 1913 it was reported that two miners, Patton and Ballingall, had purchased the mining plant from the Quartz Reef Point Company for use at their claim beside the Roaring Meg Creek (Otago Daily Times 31st December 1913: 9). Mining at a much smaller scale continued intermittently until 1915, latterly by a very close knit community of Chinese miners. According to including Smith (1990: 146) these included Long Gone, Ping Pong and Ah Mee all from Sarchung, Canton, and the last of the Chinese died there in 1917. However, the Rev. Alexander Don’s records (as published in Ng 1993) do not mention these men and so more detail or even confirmation of their identities is lacking (although the variation in the English spelling of many Chinese names can make identifying any one individual difficult). The Depression of the 1930s created mass employment and hardship, and in order to provide jobs the Government offered subsidies for gold mining, and many abandoned mining fields

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were again populated; for example, for the 1932 year the annual Mines Inspector’s report on the Southern Inspection District stated that:

“Kawarau Gorge, Cromwell, Bannockburn, Bendigo, Luggate, Clutha, Clyde, Waikerikeri, Blackman’s, Conroy’s, Matakanui, Drybread, Devonshire, Cardrona, Matatapu, and Lindis- Four hundred and thirteen men were engaged fossicking, prospecting, sluicing, elevating, driving and sinking” (AJHR 1933 C2: 35).

Mining activity at Quartz Reef Point was resurrected, and a camp of unemployed men was established there in 1934. An old water race from Devil’s Creek was refurbished by the Unemployment Board and was used to sluice some high unworked ground on the east side of the river (AJHR 1934 C2: 37; 1936 C2: 47).

Figure 12 Extract from Survey Office plan SO 1992 ‘Part of Run 238e Wakefield & Cromwell Survey District by T. G Phillipps Surveyor 1925.’ This shows a water race still in use from John Bull Creek leading to the location of the Northburn Station buildings. This

was possibly an old mining race that was reused for domestic/farm use. It is still not certain which group(s) of miners were primarily responsible for creating the tailings that are now in the Quartz Reef Point reserve, and whether a small group or groups created them over long period or a large group formed them over a short period. Neville Ritchie (pers. comm.) has observed that ‘The one thing that has always struck me about the tailings in the QRP reserve is that they are so similar in form that it is hard to imagine they were not made by one group, otherwise later companies replicated their form amazingly well. Then there’s the still undetermined Chinese connection. Were they reworking old claims, or opening new ground, and where about where they working within the greater QRP

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area. Also, where were they living- given the paucity of Chinese occupation evidence in the vicinity of the tailings?’ Post-Abandonment Management History In the first half of the twentieth century mining sites were generally regarded in terms of the potential for gold still to be present, especially (as discussed above) during the Depression of the early 1930s. In the 1970s another resource of the area was gaining attention: the flow of the Clutha River and its potential for hydro-electric generation. The New Zealand Electricity Department (NZED) undertook a number of investigations in the area, and one of the studies that was commissioned was the ‘Upper Clutha Valley Archaeological Survey’ carried out by Higham, Mason & Moore of the University of Otago (Higham et al 1976). This study formally recorded the herringbone tailings at Northburn Station/Quartz Reef Point as archaeological site S133/164 (now G41/554). The NZED investigations led to the Clutha Valley Development (CVD) project, and ultimately the construction of the Clyde Dam and filling of Lake Dunstan in 1992. This lake inundated part of the old town of Cromwell, together with the sites of the Lowburn Hotel and bridge, and much of the lower lying ground of Quartz Reef Point. At the same time, in the second half of the twentieth century, attitudes towards many of the early gold mining sites were changing, and by the 1970s there was a well-articulated regard for sites that reflected Central Otago’s mining heritage, and the Otago Goldfields Park was established in this decade as a multiple-site park to showcase a selection of the most significant mining sites (Smith 1990). The herringbone tailings at Quartz Reef Point were recognised as being the best example of their type to survive (Smith 1990: 148), and in 1976 an area of 14 hectares containing the tailings was purchased from Northburn Station, and was gazetted as the Quartz Reef Point Historic Reserve in 1979. The reserve was included as an Otago Goldfields Park site (Figure 13). Unfortunately at the time the reserve was landlocked, and there was no public access across the surrounding Northburn Station farmland; the area of the tailings was sold to the Crown on the understanding at the time that there would be no public access and no publicity to attract visitors (Smith 1990: 148). This situation was resolved in 2004-2005 when the surrounding landowner, Northburn Limited, made an application for subdivision consent on a site between SH8 and the Quartz Reef Point Historic Reserve. Both the Department of Conservation and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust submitted that as part of the subdivision the applicant should provide access to the reserve. Easements were put in place to provide a right of way for non-motorised access for the public and vehicle access for Department management purposes (Resource Consent 030333). In 2006 the Department of Conservation constructed a viewing platform with interpretation panels to overlook the workings, and to further discourage visitors from walking on the tailings.

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Figure 13 Map of the Quartz Reef Point historic reserve in the Otago Goldfields Park draft

management strategy (Smith 1990).

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Chronology 1861 (April) Gold found at the Lindis Pass by road workers, starting the brief Lindis rush. 1861 (May) Gabriel Read finds gold at Gabriels Gully (Lawrence), starting the Tuapeka

Rush. 1862 (August) Hartley & Reilly return 1,047 oz of gold to Dunedin from the Clutha River

near the present town of Cromwell, starting the Dunstan Rush. 1862 (September-October) First gold workings at Quartz Reef Point probably about this

time. 1864 Nil Desperandum company attempts to dam sections of the Clutha flow at Quartz Reef

Point. 1865 Numerous parties of miners reported at work at Quartz Reef Point. 1869 By 1869 seven Otago goldfields had been declared: Tuapeka, Dunstan, Teviot,

Nokomai, Wakatipu, Mt. Ida and Taieri. 1870s Steady work on patchy ground at Quartz Reef Point. 1880s Steady work on patchy ground at Quartz Reef Point. 1890s Steady work on patchy ground at Quartz Reef Point. 1908 Laffey and McPherson take out claim on high terrace at Quartz Reef Point. Quartz

Reef Point Sluicing Company starts work. 1913 Sluicing equipment from Quartz Reef Point sold to Roaring Meg operation. 1934 Unemployed workers camp established at Quartz Reef Point for subsidised miners. Old water race refurbished by Unemployment Board. 1976 Archaeological survey of Upper Clutha Valley by Higham et al records the tailings as

archaeological site S133/164 (now G41/554). 1978 Northburn Tailings area was purchased from Northburn Station freehold. 1979 Quartz Reef Point Historic Reserve gazetted. 1992 Lake Dunstan is formed by the filling of the Clyde Dam. The original river course

adjacent to the Quartz Reef Point workings becomes a considerably wider lake. 2004 New carpark was construction adjacent to SH8 in the vicinity of John Bull Creek. 2005 DOC secured public access easement to Reserve boundary with Northburn Limited on

existing vehicle track as part of subdivision Resource Consent 030333. 2006 DOC constructed a viewing platform, installed two interpretation panels, a chain and

bollard fence and sign in carpark by state highway under HPT archaeological authority 2006/237.

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4.0 Physical Description Site Description The Quartz Reef Point Historic Reserve contains a series of sluiced gullies and herringbone tailings that were created by nineteenth century alluvial goldminers on a river terrace above the true left bank of the Clutha River (now Lake Dunstan). The original site record prepared by the Otago University Expedition in 1976 (Higham et al 1976: 133, 171) described Quartz Reef Point as an integrated series of features that included two dams, interconnecting head races, a main supply race and the herringbone tailings (see Figure 14). Some races continued downslope to the ‘jewellers shop,’ which lay between the road and the Clutha River (and is now under the waters of Lake Dunstan). However, as described above (see Setting) the water storage reservoirs and most of the network of supply races and tail races lie outside of the reserve, and many of these features have been destroyed by agricultural development over the past 40 years (Figure 8 above). The setting of the herringbone tailings is therefore increasingly compromised. Despite this, the main area of tailings within the reserve boundary remains in good condition, with only limited deterioration since they were recorded in the 1970s (Figures 15 & 16). DOC signage asks visitors not to walk on the tailings.

Figure 14 Annotated 1968 aerial photograph of the tailings, showing the wider infrastructure that has now largely been destroyed (compare this image with Figure 17 below). The present

historic reserve boundary is shown. (Kevin Jones).

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Figure 15 One set of herringbone tailings at Quartz Reef Point as it appeared in 1976

(Higham et al 1976).

Figure 16 The same set of tailings shown in Figure 15 above in 2015.

The sluice gullies within which the tailings are located are a network of interconnected wide shallow gullies that were created by ground sluicing, whereby water was brought to the working face by a network of small water races (some of which survive within the reserve

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above the sluice gullies), and the gold-bearing gravels were systematically washed away using the flow of water over the face. The distinctive herringbone pattern of tailings was created as the larger cobbles that could not be washed away were stacked by hand in neat rows on either side of a central tailrace. The tailraces were linked in a dendritic pattern, and discharged via several main channels into the Clutha River. The area of worked ground extends over an area of approximately 430 metres (north-south) and 375 metres (east-west, not including the main tailrace channels down to the river). Based on the main areas within the workings, as defined by the main tailrace systems through which they discharged, three main ‘catchments’ can be defined; north, central and south (Figure 17). The north catchment (Figures 18, 19 & 20) is the largest, and consists of ten identifiable sets of discrete but interlinked herringbone tailings. The central catchment (Figure 22) is the middle sized (four sets of herringbone tailings), and the southern catchment is the smallest (three sets of herringbone tailings).

Figure 17 Annotated aerial photograph of the Quartz Reef Point Historic Reserve, with the three

main tailings ‘catchments’ labelled (sourced from CODC online GIS).

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Several small discrete worked areas exist above the main area of workings, with their tailraces running into the main area. These appear to be in two main forms. The more obvious sluice gullies are similar in nature to the main workings, just smaller and shallower, and possibly represent slightly earlier workings. Also just visible (and slightly more distinct on the 1968 aerial view than in more recent images) are some very shallow surface workings that pre-date the main ground sluicings. They are labelled on Figure 14 above. These are possibly ‘blow down’ workings, which were used to work wide stretches of poor alluvial ground (Jones 1994: 261; Ritchie 1981: 55). Above the workings the head- or feeder-race system remains intact where it lies inside the reserve boundary, but in the neighbouring border-dyked area of farmland no evidence of the races or reservoirs remains. Several of the feeder races are lined with schist slabs where they descend the slope down to the heads of the sluice gullies (Figure 23). In one place on the edge of the northern catchment of tailings an old race runs along one edge of a herringbone set, and obviously was an earlier feature that constrained the workings (Figure 21).

Figure 18 Looking south across the middle of the northern catchment of tailings from the DOC

viewing platform in 2015.

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Figure 19 View to the west from the DOC viewing platform, across the outside of the northern

catchment of tailings, in 2015.

Figure 20 Another view of the same set of tailings in Figure 16, in different light and with a view to

the Pisa Range beyond Lake Dunstan (Anita Middlemiss).

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Figure 21 Old race formation running alongside later sluiced area in the northern tailings

catchment. The old race created a constraint on the later workings, which suggests that they were either in contemporaneous use, or the race belonged to another party when

the sluicing was being undertaken and therefore was a legal boundary.

Figure 22 View to the south-west across the central catchment of tailings in 2015. The remnant of

Quartz Reef Point projecting out into Lake Dunstan can be seen in the mid distance.

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Figure 23 A stone lined race on the east side of the workings (Anita Middlemiss). Within the area of the reserve other associated features also survive. The ruins of a small stone hut or shed are located near the head of one set of herringbone tailings in the northern catchment (Figure 24). This structure measures 3.2m by 2.7m, and stands a maximum of 1.5m high.

Figure 24 The remains of a stone hut or shed on the edge of the northern catchment of tailings

(Anita Middlemiss).

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As already discussed, outside of the reserve boundaries many historical/archaeological features have been destroyed in the last 40 years. However, some features do survive, including water races from John Bulls Creek and Northburn Creek. To the south of the tailings reserve there are a series of smaller sluicing gullies. There is a Chinese rock shelter up Northburn Creek. The Morven Hills southern boundary keeper’s cottage has become, with additions, Northburn Station Homestead. However, these features have no comprehensive protection other than through the archaeological provisions of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act (2014), and as already discussed above the overall setting of the historic reserve is almost certain to experience ongoing change. The Technology & Mining Sequence The Quartz Reef Point tailings as they appear today are the end point of a mining process that involved a number of elements and episodes. As already discussed, many features that lay outside the reserve boundary have been destroyed, and so interpretation has to be based on the surviving features within the reserve and aerial photographs of the missing elements. As Ritchie (pers. comm.) has observed, the uniform nature of the herringbone formations raises one question: was this the work of a small group of men over a long period; or a large group of men over a short period; or alternatively several groups at different times that imitated the techniques of earlier groups. The third option seems least likely, as any new group would apply their own expertise and more variation in the tailings would be expected. There is little information available about how long it took to work a specific area of ground, and variables such as the number of men and amount of water available would be critical. The area of ground worked using herringbone stacking of the tailings was approximately 48,500m2 (calculated using the CODC online GIS), and given that this whole area consists of hand-stacked tailings a considerable amount of manpower and time was invested. This must represent years rather than months of work, even for a reasonably sized group. The sequence and network of tailings fans would presumably have been largely determined by the gold returns: the miners would have followed the best ground within the constraints of their water supply system, the fall of the ground (necessary to maintain the flow down the tailrace) and the boundaries of their claims. This would explain why some ‘arms’ of worked ground are longer than others. While the herringbone formations are the raison d’être of the historic reserve, some of the earlier and more ephemeral mining evidence is also of considerable interest, and illustrates the sequence of mining techniques in the area. As already discussed, the faint outlines of earlier and much shallower workings can also be made out in some aerial photos (Figure 25). These workings (possibly of the ‘blow down’ type) involved the ground sluicing of the topsoil using water from a network of small feeder races with numerous branches (Figure 26). It appears that this race network was probably constructed to supply these early workings, and was later reused for the deeper herringbone workings. Overall, while the damage outside the reserve has diminished the amount of archaeological information that is available for study, there is still considerable potential for further fine-scale study of early mining techniques within the reserve.

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Figure 25 Detail of 1968 aerial photograph of the water race supply system for the workings, with

contract increased to improve the visibility of the races and early workings.

Figure 26 The same image as Figure 25 above, with the race network overdrawn.

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5.0 Cultural Connections The cultural significance of a place is not a static and easily defined concept, and can mean different things to different people. Cultural significance of a place can be considered with regard to one or more specific cultural groups, and/or with regard to its importance to the wider present population. A very good recent example of this is the management of the Christchurch Cathedral in the wake of the Canterbury earthquakes; the wider community has expressed considerable interest in the building as a cultural symbol of the city, resulting in enormous resistance to the Anglican Church’s decision to deconstruct the building. The building has strong and variable meaning to different groups. The Quartz Reef Point tailings complex can be regarded in a number of ways: as an historic technological site; as an historic site where people worked; as a modern walkway and cultural heritage visitor attraction; and as a modern walkway that provides access to Central Otago hillcountry. Each of these attributes is of interest to different groups today. The Otago Goldrushes were one of a series of international goldrushes that occurred in the mid to late nineteenth century, of which the ‘Pacific Rim’ rushes of California (1849) – Victoria (1851) – Otago (1861) are the best known, but numerous other events both preceded and succeeded these, such as the Spanish exploitation of the South American goldfields from the 16th century on, and the Klondike rush in Canada (1897). The mining technology utilised in each of these goldfields travelled from place to place, carried by itinerant miners and often adapted in each place to local conditions. This international technological context is discussed further below. At an individual participant level the Otago Goldrushes were also a cosmopolitan event. This was partly due to this international sequence of rush events, and partly due to the mix of people that made up much of the New World at this time of large scale diasporas. These two processes were linked as the gold rushes depended on the communications and personal mobility that only became available from the mid-nineteenth century as shipping routes became faster and cheaper. Many of the participants in the Otago goldrushes were British (English, Scots, Welsh and Irish, see Phillips & Hearn 2008), but there were also numerous Europeans, Australians and Americans, as well as local Maori. The most visible exotic group were the Chinese, who arrived in numbers from 1866 and always formed a distinctive separate ethnic group, partly out of their own internal dynamics and partly as a result of European discrimination. To ascribe any particular goldfields mining site to any particular ethnic group can be problematic, as many reasonably standard techniques were widely used, ground sluicing being one of these as it suited groups of men with limited capital. In addition, many sites were worked by a succession of individuals or groups, so a single site might represent the efforts of not only a number of men, but also a number of ethnic groups. The Chinese were known to often rework ground that had been hurriedly earlier worked by European miners. Neville Ritchie (1981: 55) cautioned that it was a common but unreliable assumption that neatly-stacked tailings (such as herringbone tailings) were the work of Chinese miners, but as he observed some known work by Europeans was neatly stacked, while some work carried out by Chinese was untidy. The only ways to reasonably confidently identify the likely nationalities of men responsible for a particular set of gold workings are to find the relevant mining claim paperwork (which does sometime exist in the Mines Department records held by Archives New Zealand), or to find archaeological evidence of their presence (such as

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distinctive Chinese artefacts in associated hut sites). The point made above regarding a succession of miners working the same ground renders neither of these approaches foolproof. Certainly according to Smith’s research (1990: 246) Chinese miners were present at Quartz Reef Point at a late date (up to 1917), but it is not clear exactly where they were working. The Quartz Reef Point tailings therefore are (with our present knowledge) not attributable to any particular individuals or ethnic group, but in their anonymity they can stand to represent all of the mixture of miners who came to the Otago goldfields. In some ways this is a good way of addressing some issues of cultural and ethnic identity in the goldfields, where examples of different technical approaches to mining (covered at least in part by the different Otago Goldfields Park sites) can be used to illustrate the experiences of all those present. Discrete sites with known cultural affiliations, such as the Arrowtown Chinese Camp, can then address the more individual challenges that faced some ethnic groups. One aspect of popular culture than can be fleeting and ephemeral is the topical song, and one goldfields balladeer whose work has endured is Charles Thatcher, and much of his work has now become folksong of the Australian and New Zealand goldfields (Hoskins 1990: 531). Many others also wrote doggerel, mostly now forgotten, but Quartz Reef Point (specifically the efforts of the Nil Desperandum Company of 1864) did briefly appear in one such verse:

Above the sweep of Quartz Reef Point, Where islands split the stream,

They built a mighty wing dam once, Led by a tempting dream

Of golden wash just out of reach, Hid by the rushing river.

They toiled and moiled, and sweat and swore No force their hope would shiver!

Their work is done, they hold a feast; The festive champagne flows;

They sang and drank in wild delight, But then the river rose.

Verse from ‘And Then The River Rose,’ (Anon) Otago Witness 12th August 1897: 41.

In the modern world, historic sites and reserves also have cultural meaning, and New Zealand has a long history of free public access to reserve land. The creation of the ‘Queen’s Chain’ (more correctly known as marginal strips) along many water courses and the establishment of various National Parks has given New Zealanders greater access to land and rivers than was possible in Britain, and this access has become an important aspect of New Zealand culture. The cultural significance of these reserved areas was seen recently in the opposition to National Party plans to open up National Parks to mineral prospecting. The creation of the Quartz Reef Point Historic Reserve in the 1970s was unfortunately accompanied by a reluctance on the part of the surrounding landowner to allow public access to the landlocked site, and this situation was only fully resolved in 2005 with the creation of an access easement. There has now been a ten-year history of free public access, and the growing population of Central Otago makes the provision of such recreational and cultural opportunities an important consideration.

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In Otago and New Zealand there is an ongoing interest in local gold mining history, both amongst the general public (especially those with family connections to particular areas), and amongst local businesses that see the promotional attractions of such interest: for example the Goldfields Jet runs on the Kawarau River (www.goldfieldsjet.co.nz). The Central Otago goldrushes of 1861 (Gabriels Gully) and 1862 (Dunstan) were the most influential events in the settlement of the area, and the network of modern roads and settlement largely evolved as a result of mining activity. The creation of the Otago Goldfields Park in the 1970s recognised the importance of a number of widely scattered goldfields historic sites, and incorporated them into a multi-site network of reserve areas linked by their themes and management/interpretation material (Mason 1981). The Park concept still exists, now under the Department of Conservation’s management.

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6.0 Contextual Analysis The main context of the Quartz Reef Point tailings is within the Otago Goldfields, and by extension the New Zealand (Otago/Southland, West Coast, Nelson/Marlborough, Hauraki) and late nineteenth century Pacific Rim goldfields (California 1849, Victoria 1851, Otago 1861). The cultural and ethnic mix of the people on these goldfields has already been discussed above. The earliest form of alluvial gold mining on any rush field was simple stream working, often followed by small pit workings on the banks by individuals or small groups of men. Very quickly the easily accessible gold was won, and attention turned to the stream and river banks and terraces, and the need to process more material. The most effective way of doing this was to dig short water races from a stream and use the flowing water to break up the ground, a technique known as ‘ground sluicing.’ The slurry of soil and gravel washed away from the working face would be directed down a channel with matting or riffles in the bottom, where the heavy gold would settle out while lighter sands and gravels would be carried away via a tailrace and discharged downslope or into a river. Larger stones that would not wash away were picked out and stacked into already-worked ground, and the arrangement of these tailings reflected the way and sequence in which the ground had been worked, which in turn was influenced by the depth of the payable ground, the distribution of the gold, the topography and the experiences/preferences of the miners. An analysis of alluvial tailings types in the Central Otago goldfields by Ritchie (1981: 51–69) identified a number of distinct forms of tailing sites associated with alluvial gold mining, including herringbone, blow down, parallel, curved, box and fan tailings. Herringbone tailings are probably the most distinctive form of such stacked tailings; Ritchie (1981: 54) listed them as his ‘Type 1’ and commented that ‘tailings of this type, if neatly stacked, are generally accepted as the most visually interesting form because of their symmetry.’ Jill Hamel (2001) in her discussion of ground sluicing evidence in Otago commented that the alluvial gold workings along the upper Clutha River are distinctive possibly because the location of the terraces was too far from suitable hillsides that would have provided sites for reservoirs for high-pressure working, and so ground sluicing had to be employed, and the large volumes of heavier rocks that could not be easily washed away were hand-stacked, and several major patterns were utilised, including herringbone with rounded edges, herringbone with feathered edges, fans, parallel ridges, and boxed parallel ridges. Hamel has counted such patterned tailings (of all varieties) at 26 major sites between Albert Town and the Lindis River (Hamel 2001: 143). Within the wider Otago context, alluvial gold mining was a major industrial activity for over 100 years from 1861, and alluvial workings and tailings are widespread. These not only include ground sluicing tailings (other examples of herringbone tailings are discussed below in Comparative Analysis), but also hydraulic sluicing evidence (for example the Bannockburn Sluicings), hydraulic elevating evidence (for example, the Blue Lake at St. Bathans) and dredge tailings (for example, the Earnsleugh Tailings Historic Reserve). Because herringbone tailings are generally associated with early, shallow, ground-sluicing gold mining sites, many areas of such tailings that once existed have been destroyed by re-working of the same ground to a greater depth. Much of this reworking occurred in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and has created archaeological mining landscapes that illustrate a technological progression. A good example of this can be seen on the banks of the Clutha River at Earnscleugh near Alexandra, where early herringbone tailings have been cut through by later dredge tailings (Figure 27). Aerial photographs from the 1950s of the

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Sandy Point area at Earnscleugh show how extensive areas of herringbone tailings were once present in the area subsequently worked by the Clutha dredge in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Figure 27 Herringbone tailings (foreground, site G42/162) cut through by later dredge tailings

(midground, site G42/165) at Earnscleugh near Alexandra in Central Otago. At a wider geographical and historical level again, alluvial mining techniques that relied on ground sluicing and simple gravity separation have been used around the world and for several thousand years. The processes of ground sluicing (using a continual flow of water to break up the ground) and hushing (storing water and letting it run over the ground to be worked in one large release) were extensively developed by the Romans, with archaeological evidence found of their use in Spain and in Wales in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD (Morrell 1968: 5; Wilson 2002: 17, 19, 29). These sorts of basic techniques could be applied not only to alluvial/eluvial gold, but to any mineral with a high specific gravity found naturally weathered from its parent rock. In particular, alluvial tin mining sought cassiterite (tin oxide), which when eroded is a heavy black sand. The West Country of Britain was a centre of medieval tin mining, and Cornish tin fields were, for centuries, one of the world’s most important sources of tin. Until the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, alluvial and eluvial tin deposits were mined by ‘streamers’ (alluvial tin miners, as opposed to ‘miners’, who mined the underground lodes). Once the easily-won deposits became exhausted, attention began to turn to the tin lodes, both by open cast workings and underground mining (Herring & Rose 2001: 47). The alluvial streamworks thus generally date to the fifteenth century or earlier. Numerous examples of streamworks remain on Bodmin Moor and Dartmoor (Figure 28), and archaeological interpretation of these suggests that ground sluicing mining methods were employed. Water was brought to the workings in a race (termed a ‘leat’ in Britain), the ground broken up, and the tailings stacked in the worked ground. As Newman (1998: 16) has observed, there were a number of different types of stream working (Figure 29), each reflecting different techniques, dependent on the nature of the deposit, the topography and the preferences of the men involved, and this almost exactly reflects Ritchie’s (1981: 66) comments about the Otago alluvial gold workings.

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Figure 28 Alluvial tin workings on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, UK, in 2002. The parallel rows of

tailings have been covered with turf and grass

Figure 29 Illustration of one method of alluvial tin mining on Dartmoor, which left behind

distinctive parallel ribs of tailings (Newman 1998).

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In New Zealand alluvial tin deposits were also sought during the short-lived tin rush to Stewart Island in the 1880s, followed by an equally unprofitable commercial venture in 1912-17, used standard alluvial gold mining techniques, at least in part because many of the participants had experience in the Otago/Southland goldfields. Although no herringbone tailings have been found there, areas of parallel ‘ribs’ of stacked stone tailing that were formed using similar processes have been recorded (Figure 30). The technological parallels with the British tin mining sites are very distinct, and Cornish miners certainly came to New Zealand, but direct evidence of technology transfer in this instance is missing, and it is likely that the New Zealand Tin Range sites reflect the common use of alluvial mining technology rather than any direct Cornish influence. Because of the lack of stock and human activity on southern Stewart Island, the archaeological evidence of this New Zealand tin mining remains in excellent condition but becoming increasingly overgrown (Petchey 2006).

Figure 30 Rows of stacked stone tailings (site D49/49) in the alluvial tin workings on southern

Stewart Island.

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7.0 Assessment of Significance Most historic places in New Zealand are assessed using a recognised heritage values system. DOC uses the significance assessment criteria contained within the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act (2014). Heritage New Zealand (HNZ) is the national authority in the assessment of the significance of historic places. The current HNZ assessment criteria are used in its List (previously ‘Registration’) Proposal form are: Historical, cultural, aesthetic, archaeological, architectural, scientific, social, spiritual, technological and traditional significance or value. For the purposes of this report these criteria have been amalgamated under three headings: Historical (historical, social); Physical (archaeological, architectural, scientific, technological); and Cultural (aesthetic, spiritual, traditional). Several statements of significance have been made, and are considered in the assessments made in this report: In 1990 Paula Smith discussed the significance of the Quartz Reef Point tailings (Smith 1990: 148):

Ground sluicing tailings at Quartz Reef Point are the best remaining example of herringbone tailings in Otago. They are representative of a formation that was once more common but which continues to be reduced mainly by later goldmining operations. Herringbone tailings can still be seen at many locations around Otago including Bannockburn Sluicings and Earnscleugh Tailings. However, the tailings at Quartz Reef Point are valued because they cover an extensive area and also because of their exceptional neatness. They are also culturally significant because of their aesthetic qualities; the miners inadvertently created a strikingly beautiful cultural landscape. They are the best remaining example of herringbone tailings in Otago and are therefore regionally significant.

The Historic Places Trust (now Heritage New Zealand) made a submission on Resource Consent RC 030333, and stated that the tailings are the best remaining examples of herringbone mine tailings in Otago and are of regional significance. The Quartz Reef Point tailings have more recently been assessed by the Department of Conservation as a Local Treasure Destination, which is defined as a ‘vehicle accessible, frontcountry location that provides recreation opportunities for nearby communities’ (Draft Otago CMS 2013: 148, 232). This stresses their value as public land with recreational opportunities, but does not articulate their other values.

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7.1 Historical Significance The Quartz Reef Point herringbone tailings represent one of the most important historical events in Otago; the goldrushes of the 1860s. While the tailings do not relate to the first few months, or possibly even years, of the initial rush (although the ephemeral sluicings upslope of the more obvious herringbone tailings may be this early), they are one of the best surviving publicly accessible examples of early ground sluicing technology, and are therefore an ideal place to interpret some of the events and techniques of these critical few years. Other sites within the Otago Goldfields Park present later periods of alluvial mining, particularly the hydraulic sluicing landscape at the Bannockburn Sluicings Reserve and the dredge mining at the Earnscleugh Tailings Reserve. The Quartz Reef Point Reserve plays an essential role in the comprehensive historical and physical coverage of these public reserves. The importance of the goldrushes to both Otago’s and New Zealand’s history can not be overstated. Locally, in inland Otago, the basis of almost the entire modern infrastructure of settlements and roads had its origins in the events of the 1860s goldrushes. Cromwell was established at the junction of the Kawarau and Clutha (then Molyneux) Rivers, just upstream from where Hartley & Reilly made their discovery of rich gold in late 1862 that sparked the Dunstan Rush, and is therefore a central place in this story. The location of their discovery is now drowned in Lake Dunstan, along with much of the oldest part of Cromwell and the Cromwell Chinese camp, and these losses act to add to the significance of the historic goldfields places that do survive. The goldrush also affected Dunedin and the enormous influx of people to Otago in this period, and the wealth that was generated by the gold returns, created much of the modern city that exists today. Many companies were established to supply the goldfields, with their head offices in Dunedin. The Quartz Reef Point tailings are highly representative of the events that created this boom, and are therefore historically significant within this context. The Quartz Reef Point tailings are representative, and are the best surviving (and now protected) example, of a key site type directly related to a series of nationally significant events (the nineteenth century gold rushes), very close to the place where the foundations of one critical episode (the Dunstan Rush) was laid. They are therefore historically both regionally and nationally significant.

7.2 Physical Significance The Quartz Reef Point herringbone tailings are the probably the best surviving example of this type of tailings in both Otago and New Zealand (Smith 1990), and this alone makes the site significant. And as is discussed further below (Comparative Analysis), this type of site has suffered quite a high degree of loss in recent decades. The protection already afforded the Quartz Reef Point tailings has not only preserved them, but by ensuring their future survival adds to their significance. Several eras and systems of alluvial gold mining are represented at Quartz Reef Point (Jones 1994). It is likely that the supply race and storage ponds to the east of the herringbone tailings were originally designed and constructed in the 1860s by gold-miners to sluice the high terrace (Jones 1994). Very shallow blow-down workings are just still visible on the ground

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surface, overwhelmed somewhat by the later and more visually impressive herringbone tailings. The earliest phase of hydraulic mining, namely ground sluicing, is therefore represented within the reserve, and as already discussed above (Historical Significance), this fits in with other Historic Reserves (that are also Otago Goldfields Park sites) that preserve examples of other more advanced alluvial mining techniques. It should also be noted that the herringbone tailings represent a great deal of physical work by the miners in the lifting and stacking of the stones, whereas later more mechanised forms of mining involved less physical labour. The herringbone tailings therefore represent a type of mining where the involvement of individuals was still dominant. Although it is important to preserve a range of tailings and mining sites so that a representative sample remains in good condition for future study and visitation, it is herringbone tailings that are the most visually impressive type of tailings due to their ordered and symmetrical appearance. Both Ritchie (1981: 54) and Smith (1990: 148) have commented on the aesthetic qualities of the pattern of herringbone tailings in the landscape, underlining this important aspect of their physical value, and both Jill Hamel (Hamel 2001) and Kevin Jones (Jones 1994) have commented more generally on the visually interesting gold-mining remains in this part of Central Otago. Aerial views of the Quartz Reef Point tailings are particularly impressive, with an almost fern-leaf delicateness that belies their industrial origins. This visibility from both the ground and air is because Central Otago provides a particularly accommodating environment for the identification, interpretation and appreciation of all types of landscape archaeological sites due to its largely treeless nature and arid conditions that inhibit rapid revegetation of old mining sites (assisted somewhat by the rabbits). This open nature also prevents damage from tree roots and from soil build up, which can disturb alluvial mining sites on the West Coast and Stewart Island, although the downside of this is that it does leave Central Otago sites somewhat prone to mechanical damage from people and stock. At Quartz Reef Point the viewing platform and interpretation notices are designed to keep people off the tailings themselves. However, the physical integrity of the Quartz Reef Point tailings has been compromised, with the destruction of supply races, earth walled paddocks/storage dams and head races. In 1990 Paula Smith stated that it was important to protect the remaining evidence of the whole system in order to retain its significance. Unfortunately it is only the main body of the tailings and the features within the reserve that have survived. While the area that is protected was undoubtedly the best compromise that could be negotiated in the 1970s (and not forgetting that it took many more years to negotiate permanent public access), the loss of key parts (viz. the dams and head races) of the extensive interconnected mining system at Quartz Reef Point is regrettable. Nevertheless, the remaining herringbone tailings and other features within the reserve retain a very high physical significance, due mostly to their good preservation, extent, and high degree of representativeness of this form of alluvial mining, but enhanced considerably by the (albeit unintentional) aesthetic qualities of the herringbone formations.

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7.3 Cultural Significance The cultural significance of the herringbone tailings can be summarised within two main contexts: the cultural contexts and meanings of the past, and their cultural values today. To a certain degree the past values have already been addressed in Historical Significance above, and some of the present values (especially aesthetics) in Physical Significance. The tailings are representative of the efforts of thousands of men (and a lesser number of women) who poured into Central Otago during the goldrushes of the early 1860s. These men came from a variety of backgrounds, and while most were ultimately of British extraction, a significant number had different origins. The late nineteenth century was a period of a number of diasporas, and many Scots and Irish ended up on the goldfields. The Chinese were a significant and visible presence in Otago after 1866, and it is known that Chinese miners were present at Quartz Reef Point, and may have worked on the herringbone tailings. The specifics of who actually created the herringbone tailings may never be known, but the workings are important in representing the efforts of this mixture of cultures and ethnicities (with all of the faults, foibles and intolerances that this mixture may at times have involved). And, as noted above, they represent a great deal of physical labour on the part of some of these miners. In the modern world, the Quartz Reef Point reserve has cultural significance in several ways. That the miners inadvertently created a strikingly beautiful cultural landscape has already been discussed. A Google images search for ‘herringbone tailings’ will bring up predominantly pictures of this reserve; many photographers have tried to capture the harsh landscape and the light/shadow effects of the herringbone ribs. The reserve also provides public access to the Central Otago hillcountry, and public access to reserves is generally seen as a birthright of all New Zealanders. As populations grow, reserve land and areas with open public access will come increasingly important. Thirdly, there is a growing awareness of the importance of New Zealand’s own history, especially amongst people with family histories in specific areas. The goldfields are an area of particular interest in this regard, and access to important goldfields historic sites is and will continue to be important to residents and visitors to the region.

7.4 Summary of Significance In summary, the Quartz Reef Point herringbone tailings remain the best example of the type in Otago, and almost certainly in New Zealand, despite the loss of most of the main water supply system. Most of the other recorded similar sites are smaller in extent or in worse condition, and many of these have also been damaged in the past few decades. There is clearly an ongoing threat to this site type, and the Quartz Reef Point workings are very important as a protected example. They are highly representative of the historical events of the Otago goldrushes, and the efforts of the many people that flocked to these rushes, and also represent the period of labour-intensive mining that was soon superseded by more advanced hydraulic sluicing and elevating technologies.

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Overall, the Quartz Reef Point herringbone tailings are of high regional and national significance, for their historical, physical and cultural values. Unusually for an industrial site in a barren landscape, they also have very high aesthetic values.

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8.0 Comparative Analysis The herringbone tailings at Quartz Reef Point are generally regarded as the best preserved and exemplary example in Otago (Ritchie 1981: 54; Smith 1990: 148) (which is why they were selected as one of the key Otago Goldfields Park sites). Other examples of herringbone tailings do exist, although as already discussed above many have been destroyed by subsequent mining. No nationwide comparative study of alluvial goldmining sites exists, and any such comparison relies on the NZAA archaeological site recording scheme Archsite. A search of this database1 found only six references to herringbone tailings in New Zealand, four in Central Otago and two in the Grey District (Table 2). This will be an underestimate of the actual numbers of such sites that survive, as some will be unrecorded, and the data entry into Archsite is variable. An example of this is site G42/162 at Earnscleugh (see Figure 27 above) that has a small area of herringbone tailings cut through by dredge tailings, along with a much larger area of parallel row tailings, and is recorded simply as an alluvial tailings site. However, even allowing for the undercounting of such sites, the contents of Table 2 are indicative that herringbone tailings in notable condition are not overly common. Table 2 Herringbone tailings recorded by the New Zealand Archaeological Association (Archsite).

Site No Imp Site No

Area Name Description

J32/38 S51/73 West Coast Duke of Edinburgh Terrace

Stone tailings and tail races, in herringbone arrangement.

J32/60 S51/118 West Coast 3 adjacent sets of herringbone style tailings.

I41/108 Otago Reservoir & herringbone tailings. F41/82 S133/426 Otago Kawarau River

bank Extensive area of herringbone tailings and sluice channels.

G41/554 S133/164 Otago Quartz Reef Point Herringbone tailings. G40/41 S124/54 Otago Ah Wee’s tailings Herringbone tailings.

In the early 1980s Neville Ritchie (1981: 68) cautioned that many alluvial mining tailings sites in Central Otago were being lost to modern mining and other development activities, and this has proven to be an accurate observation. In particular, with regard to herringbone tailings, he stated that ‘some excellent examples of this type of site are found in the vicinity of Cromwell at Deadman’s Point, Northburn, and along the true left bank of the Kawarau River upstream of the Bannockburn Road Bridge’ (Ritchie 1981: 55). Of these sites, only Northburn (Quartz Reef Point) survives intact today, and as described above the water supply systems for this site have been destroyed. The Deadman’s Point workings (site S133/132, G41/422) were destroyed during the Clutha Valley Development project of the 1980s. The Kawarau River bank examples (site F41/82) were reworked by Kilgour Mining in the 1980s, and when revisited by Matthew Sole in 2011 only fragments survived, the water race system had been largely removed by subsequent land use, the heads of the sluice gullies had been used for rubbish tipping, and the lower sections had been destroyed by the inundation by Lake 1 Carried out by Nicola Molloy of the Department of Conservation at the request of P. Petchey in 2015.

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Dunstan or by earlier dredging (F41/82 site record form). Sole described the surviving site as a remnant section, as there was once a continuing sequence of tailings along the river bank that has now been destroyed. Figure 31 shows this site as it was recorded by Ritchie in 1981.

Figure 31

Herringbone tailings (site S133/426, now F41/82) beside the Kawarau River opposite Bannockburn, prior to the filling of Lake Dunstan (Ritchie 1981).

The herringbone tailings at Ah Wee’s point (site S115/53, now G40/99) on the Clutha River about 10 kilometres east of Wanaka were also described by Ritchie (1981: 55). This set of tailings are located on the inside of a bend in the river (Figure 32), and are believed to have been created by a Chinese miner, Ah Wee, sometime prior to 1898 (Ritchie 1981: 55; Roxburgh 1957: 117). The NZAA site record form for this site has not been updated, but the tailings are thought to still be intact.

Figure 32 Ah Wee’s tailings (site S115/53, now G40/99) at Ah Wee’s Point beside the Clutha River

(Ritchie 1981). As already discussed above, some sections of herringbone tailings survive on the Earnscleugh Flat beside the Clutha River, although most of this area has been subsequently dredged (work

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continued until the 1960s) and was then the location of gravel quarries and the haul road during the Clyde Dam construction during the 1980s. Fragments of herringbone tailings survive at site G42/162 (Figure 27 above), and within the Earnsclugh Tailings Historic Reserve between runs of dredge tailings. The 26 sets of patterned tailings in the Upper Clutha Valley mentioned by Jill Hamel (Hamel 2001: 143) have not been recently reinspected to determine their conditions. Of the two sets of herringbone tailings recorded on the West Coast in the Grey District only one has been visited recently. Site J32/60 was visited by Reg Nichol in 2014, and most of the site was found to have been badly damaged by bulldozing in preparation for pine planting in the 1980s (Archsite update). The Duke of Edinburgh Terrace (site J32/38) has not been reinspected since it was recorded in 1979, when it was in good condition with ‘excellent examples of hand stacked tailings and clear wide tail races’ (J32/38 Site Record Form). A comparative analysis of herringbone tailings in New Zealand therefore suggests that while the recorded number of such sites probably underestimates the actual number, the Quartz Reef Point example is probably the best preserved and most extensive set, and overall this site type is under ongoing threat of damage and destruction.

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9.0 References Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives. Briden, S. (2006) Summary of platform construction at the Quartz Reef Point Historic Reserve (Northburn Tailings) Lake Dunstan, Unpublished report, Department of Conservation . Department of Conservation (2013) Conservation Management Strategy, Otago 2014-2014 (Draft June 2013). New Zealand Department of Conservation. Duff, Geoffrey P. 1978 Sheep May Safely Graze: The Story of Morven Hills Station and the Tarras District. Published by the Author Tarras, Central Otago. Gold Fields Act 1862 Hamel, J. (2001) The Archaeology of Otago, Department of Conservation, Wellington Hearn, T.J. ‘Hartley, Horatio’ in Oliver, W.H. (ed.) (1990) The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Volume One. Department of Internal Affairs, pp178-179. Hearn, T.J. ‘Read, Thomas Gabriel’ in Oliver, W.H. (ed.) (1990) The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Volume One. Department of Internal Affairs, pp 358-359. Higham, C.F.W., Mason, G.M., Moore, S.J.E. (1976) Upper Clutha Valley, An Archaeological Survey. University of Otago, Studies in Prehistoric Archaeology, Vol. 8. Hoskins, R.H.B. (1990) ‘Thatcher, Charles Robert’ in Oliver, W.H. (ed.) (1990) The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Volume One. Department of Internal Affairs, p 531. Illustrated London News (Newspaper, London). Jones, K. L. (1994) Nga Tohuwhenua Mai Te Rangi-A New Zealand archaeology in aerial photographs, Victoria University Press, Wellington King, M. (2004) The Penguin History of New Zealand. Viking (Penguin) Auckland. Morrell, W.P. (1968) The Gold Rushes. Adam & Charles Black, London. (Second edition, first published 1940). Newman, P. (1998) The Dartmoor Tin Industry, A Field Guide. Chercombe Press. Ng. J. (1993) Windows on a Chinese Past, Volume 4. Otago Heritage Books, Dunedin. Otago Daily Times (Newspaper, Dunedin). Otago Provincial Council, Votes & Proceedings. Otago Provincial Council, Gazette.

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Otago Witness (Newspaper, Dunedin). Petchey, P.G. (2006) Pegasus Tin. Archaeological survey of the Pegasus tin field, southern Stweart Island/Rakiura. Department of Conservation, Wellington. Phillips, J. & Hearn, T. (2008) Settlers. New Zealand Immigrants From England, Ireland & Scotland, 1800-1945. Auckland University Press, Auckland. Pyke, V. (1962) History of Early Gold Discoveries in Otago. Otago Daily Times & Witness Newspapers Co. Ltd., Dunedin. Originally published 1887. Quartz Reef Point Sluicing Company Limited. Defunct Company File, Archives New Zealand, DAAB/D93/9055/114b/Ac2214. Ritchie, N.A. (1981) ‘Archaeological Interpretation of Alluvial Gold Tailing Sites, Central Otago, New Zealand.’ New Zealand Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 3, pp. 51-69. Roxburgh, I. (1957) Wanaka Story: A History of Wanaka, Tarras, Hawea and Surrounding Districts. Otago Centennial Historical Publications. Salmon, J.H.M. (1963) A History of Goldmining in New Zealand. Government Printer, Wellington. Smith, P. (1990) Otago Goldfields Park Management Strategy, Unpublished draft report prepared for the Department of Conservation Wilson, A. (2002) “Machines, Power and the Ancient World.” The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. XCII, pp 1-32. Files HRM 7/20 (Central Otago Area Office closed file) PAR-13-06-31 (Central Otago Area Office) Kevin L. Jones aerial photo collection