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Old Tom’s Cottage
Size 55mm high
The Arrowtown Chinese Settlement is the best remaining example of a Chinese goldfields settlement in New Zealand and is a mute reminder of a colourful chapter in the history of Central Otago. The settlement is situated on the flats amongst the willows, poplars and hawthorns by Bush Creek, at the top end of the main street of Arrowtown, near Queenstown.
Gold was first discovered in payable quantities in Otago in 1861. By 1864 the population of the province had swelled to 30,000. This goldrush led to the Otago Provincial Council invited Chinese miners from Victoria, Australia to come to the goldfields, the first of which reached Dunedin in February 1866. Within two years there were 1200 Chinese in Otago and this total quadrupled in the 1870’s.
Typically the New Zealand Chinese used local materials to build their huts. Most only intended to stay a few years so the wasted little unnecessary expense or effort on their homes. Thus they tended to be simple and rudimentary. Old Tom’s Cottage was built with mudbrick, on a schist rock foundation, with a corrugated iron roof. It was built with low walls, a saddle-roof and had a chimney and door at one end.
Price $69.00*
* Prices are in New Zealand dollars (NZD)
* Prices subject to change without prior notice
* Prices do not include postage and packaging
* NZ customers: Prices include GST