Crownthorpe: How it used to be

The homestead on this working sheep station reveals a slice of Hawkes Bay's history that can never be replaced. By VICKI HOLDER.

A legacy of the Shrimpton family, Matapiro Station is a fascinating reminder of how good life used to be for Hawkes Bay's landed gentry.

Matt Forde, the grandson of the original owner, now lives in the big, four-bedroom maids' quarters to the rear of the old homestead, tending the gardens, mowing the lawns and raking the driveway - just as his grandfather employed gardeners to do when he was alive. Matt recalls how the station was in its heyday in 1946.

"It was all go back then," he chuckles. "There were 20,000 ewes and we produced 1000 bales of wool a season." Matt was only 11 at the time, but he remembers how the family lived with plenty of hired help. There was the maid, the family's cook, a dresser, a children's governess and at least one full-time gardener. There were 16 staff in the house who cooked for the staff, plus four rabbiters, as well as shepherds and other farming staff who lived in various cottages near the main house.

Life for the children was a privileged affair, although Matt assures that his grandfather, Walter Shrimpton, was not without his worries.

Walter's tale began in 1873, when the English printer purchased 8900ha of land 28km west of Hastings, in Crownthorpe. The property was alive with wild pigs and covered with tall ferns and scrub. Shrimpton proved an efficient farmer, gradually bringing his limestone-based, rolling country into well-grassed pastures through hard work and imaginative planning.

However, holding on to his full complement of land proved tricky. Labour Prime Minister Dick Seddon visited the station in 1905 and was lavishly entertained. On the last morning of his visit, the Prime Minister and his host stood on the veranda and viewed the surrounds.

"How far does your run extend, Walter?" asked Seddon. The owner proudly swept out his arm before him to indicate that everything as far as the eye could see was his. "It's too much for one man," said Seddon. "You'll have to do something about it, or I'll do it for you."

The property was divided up, and following the two wars land was sold to the Government for settlement of returned soldiers.

The homestead is still a fair size, however. On three titles, it is subdivided into 118 paddocks. There are pine plantations as well. Incorporating kauri, rimu, matai and totara, it was built on a spectacular terraced site with commanding views across the plains to the rolling hills in the distance.

Originally a single-storey house, it was enlarged for Shrimpton's growing family of five children. The grandfather of Napier architect Guy Natusch designed the additions, which turned it into a grand, two-storey home with at least 10 bedrooms, rimu-panelled formal rooms, a spacious family lounge, a gentleman's business quarters, a schoolroom and several bathrooms.

Walter Shrimpton died in 1936 at the age of 95, followed by his wife, Edith, in 1953. It was then that his grandson Matt, who has a farm nearby, returned as caretaker. He has preserved the homestead in its original condition with most of its furniture and chattels intact.

Linen cupboards are still lined with the same linen the family used. Everyday crockery still sits on the shelves. Stashed in drawers are old books, games and chess sets - even a bizarre-looking battery-powered object Edith used to massage her back.

The dressers in the bedrooms display beautiful porcelain water pitchers, and matching potties are stored discreetly underneath. In one bedroom Matt points to the bed where he was born and later slept in, commenting on how uncomfortable the horse hair mattress used to be.

Children's exercise books, including a French book that belonged to Edith Shrimpton, and moa bones Matt has collected from around the farm are housed in the little schoolroom.

Although Matapiro is a now a modern, working farm station, no museum could match it for what the homestead reveals of the family who contributed so much to the history of the area.

Vital statistics:

ADDRESS: Matapiro Station, Matapiro Rd, Crownthorpe.

FEATURES: Handsome homestead in original condition with 10 bedrooms; suitable for conversion to boutique hotel or winery; expansive landscaped grounds; grass tennis court; historic family chapel; mainly rolling land with good fertiliser history; extensive water reticulation; 97ha pine plantations; long road frontage; manager's residence; three cottages; workshop/implement sheds; four hay barns; 10-stand woolshed; station buildings.

AREA: Land area 1882ha on three titles; floor area approx 830sq m.

AUCTION: 2pm, Nov 1, Napier War Memorial Conference Centre.

AGENT: Bayleys CD Realty (HB) and Wrightson Real Estate. Ph Bayleys 06 834 4080 bus; Glyn Rees-Jones 027 496 3020 mob; Gary Brooks 027 444 3756 mob; Wrightson 06 870 8600 bus; Doug Smith 025 941 839 mob; Kim Shannon 025 462 402 mob.