Upper Kaituna settlement

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33699, 23 November 1974, Page 12

Upper Kaituna settlement

(By

W. J. HARRIS)

To trampers and scouts in the Upper Kaituna Valley it was a welcome shelter, to local farmers and grass seeders it was the cocksfooters’ hut, but to the Jensen brothers it was home. Probably more people visit the building now and inquire of its history than seek it at the original site.

The Jensen House, originally of Upper Kaituna Valley, is now a valued part of Murray Thacker’s Okains Bay Museum, one of New Zealand’s leading private museums. In the early days the Upper Kaituna Valley was surveyed into sections of varying shapes and areas as small as 14 acres. Previously this was unoccupied Crown Land, mostly thickly wooded. Rural Section 35530 of 125 acres was granted in 1884 to Edward Jensen, a contractor of Port Levy, Said to be of Danish origin. he was keen to establish a dairy farm in spite of the unattractive, isolated position. At 1650 ft on the cold, southern side of Mt Herbert, his land was covered by heavy bush and reached only by sledge track over the tussocky summit from Purau. Chris Jensen joined his brother in clearing operations recently recalled by a Banks Peninsula nonagenarian, Oliver Hunter. In 1888, during his early childhood at Church Bay Mr Hunter was taken outside one night to see the sky behind Mt Herbert lit up as from an erupting volcano. .Slab buildings Jensens’ bush was on fire. Purau Valley bush had been burnt two years earlier when it was usual to leave fallen trees two seasons to dry out. At least three totara slab buildings were erected by the Jensens, the largest being very similar to the first house built on the Canterbury Plains in 1843 by the Deans Brothers at Riccarton. A 1941 aerial map showed two of the Jensen buildings, one of which was afterwards destroyed by fire. Their house was 26ft by 14ft, having a stud of 6ft, divided into two earthfloored rooms with a loft above. There were four massive totara comer posts sunk in the ground and a post in the middle of each long wall. Horizontal beams tied the tope of posts together and the slabs for the walls were sunk into the ground and spiked to the top beams.

Slabs were split and adzed to about 3in. thick, the largest one being 29in. wide and 4in. thick. Rafters and purlins were of totara on which were three layers of totara shingles, each 3ft long. Newspapers were stuck to the inside walls and ceiling to eliminate draughts. By 1960 the building was still remarkably waterproof, the only metal being a galvanised ridge cap. Jensens sold The Jensens milked a number of cows, making butter and cheese which was sledged to Purau for sale at Lyttelton. Their chum was built outside between two posts. Two smaller sections were added to the property before they sold to W. J. and A. J. Field in 1896 and moved to Hawke’s Bay.

The first section in the locality was taken up in 1878 by G. J. Cholmondeley who later obtained more blocks. Other original section holders included Cuff and Graham, Shipping agents of Lyttelton; Thos. Bevins; Henry Hoare; and H. Smith. However, most of the land at the head of the valley passed to the Field family who by 1900 had dwellings on four separate holdings. George and Louisa Field called at Port Levy in 1856 and four of their eight sons — Charles W„ Arthur, William and George R., — worked together to establish farms in Kaituna Valley. Charles and Ellen Field are thought to be the first family couple to build in the district where they lived for more than 40 years. Their home "Haere Mai” was later renamed Tophouse.

Sledge track From the early 1850 s a I sledge-track linked the | Rhodes Brothers Kaituna run with their Purau property. All the Kaituna sheep, including those from the Oashore block beyond Lake Forsyth, were driven over to Purau for shearing. Cheese from their Kaituna dairy also went to Purau. The Jensens and the Fields built near this stock route, which followed the main stream of the valley. Thousands of black pine and totara posts and sleepers were taken to the Kaituna railway station. The first mile was by sledge, followed by loading on to bullock waggons for an eight-mile journey to the station. Education for the Field children was provided by a governess before Charles W. Field opened a private school. The Tophouse schoolroom was formerly a

two-room cottage, pupils being from four Field families and four Johnson children. George R. Field made available an acre of land further down the valley for a larger school. There was a cheesemaker’s cottage and store cheeseroom nearby, the store serving as a classroom until the school

was built. The first teacher (1895-96) was Ernest Andrews who in later yeans became Mayor of Christchurch and widely known as Sir Ernest Andrews. Summer use From the Jensens’s departure till the 1920 s harvesters were the regular summer occupants of their whare. Fred Rowberry stayed there while using bullocks to drag logs into heaps for burning. Before they enlisted during World War I, it was the base for Dave Dutton and Bert Eggleston, when fencing. Boy scouts were the most numerous of the visitors in latter years as the whare was conveniently sited for the two-day merit badge test tramp between Kaituna and Diamond Harbour. When darkness or fog were encountered early lodgers used lights at the attic opening to guide those following, Roy Barclay, the Tophouse property owner, offered in 1960 to give the building for removal to the Kaituna Valley Scenic Reserve administered by the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society. After an inspection by officers of the society, accompanied by representatives from the Lands and Survey Depart, ment and the Historical Places Trust, it was regretfully concluded that the removal was too difficult a job.

Wahine storm It was decided that the Historic Places Trust should strengthen the structure, which was believed to have many useful years left as a shelter. During July, 1962, however, a south-west gale blew the building askew before the crossbracing and anchoring had been completed. This damage was repaired, but the final blow came in April, 1968. The Wahine storm wrecked the building and carried the timbers in twisted jigsaws back among the stumps. John Murdoch, who bought Tophouse in 1961, gave the scattered materials to Murray Thacker for re-erection at his O’Kains Bay museum. Salvage was made possible through the help of Stanley Patten, a Kaituna Valley farmer, who used his crawler tractor to haul three trailer loads a mile and a half downhill for the 40mile truck journey to OKains Bay. Barry Smith and Pat Mulcahy were largely responsible for restoration, which was completed by September, 1969.