Great insights into Whanganui's rich history may lie only inches down in the earth. Murray Crawford takes a closer look ...
FRANK Gibson's recent Chronicle article on the archaeological dig at the present Farmers' site highlights the vast amount of knowledge which can be gleaned from such studies.
WHEN Iheard the dig was in progress, along with all the legal wranglings that accompanied it, I questioned its value. Why spend all that time, effort and money on a project that would yield the same as any other pre-1900 colonial building site -- a few fragments of pottery, clay pipes, broken bottles and some rusty horseshoes?
But my opinion altered after attending the first of Naomi Woods' lectures on the result of the dig when, by combining findings at the site with contemporary newspaper articles, she built up a picture of the Byrnes family, who had lived there in the mid to late 19th century, thus adding considerably to the early history of the town.
The second lecture centred around a better known family -- the Chavannes, who operated a stable and later a motor garage from the same site.
So which other sites around Whanganui are ripe for archaeological study?
Unfortunately, the opportunity to explore one prime heritage site has been lost with the redevelopment under way in Victoria Ave at the site of the first two Churches of England, although it may be argued that the area was well dug up when bodies from the burial ground were exhumed early in the 20th century and again when more bones were discovered by trench-digging activities during World War II.
Magnificent views: Sandown Villa, the retirement home of Reverend and Mrs Richard Taylor as realised in a painting by Cranleigh Barton.
I am aware that archaeologists in New Zealand are a rare species, but there are two city sites which may yield interesting results, both of which are now vacant and both were last built on more than 150 years ago.
The first is in Plymouth St, a few metres up from Spooners Dry Cleaners in the Avenue. Until last year a quaint, pretty little cottage sat there, one I admired every time I walked past it as a young lad.
It had been altered internally and housed various community groups over the years so was not original inside, but it was likely built around the same time as Sandridge Hall, a grand mansion erected across the road for Mayor Watt in 1869 and (to use modern terminology) "deconstructed" in 1979.
Then, suddenly one day last year, the cottage was gone and the section has remained empty ever since.
The second site is in Campbell St, opposite the Davis Library.
Most locals remember it as the Palm Lounge, but the restaurant was merely an addition to what already existed -- Sandown, the retirement home built in 1873 for the famous missionary, peace-maker, explorer, historian, botanist, zoologist, geologist, ethnologist and author, Reverend Richard Taylor.
Unfortunately, Taylor lived in it for only a few months, dying in October of the same year, although his wife Caroline remained there until her death in 1884 and their daughter Laura until her death in 1887. Both the restaurant and homestead burned down in a suspicious fire in 1999.
An advertisement in the May 22, 1889, edition of the Wanganui Herald helps to picture the house and grounds:
TO LET -- Sandown Villa, Queen's Park, Wanganui. The house contains 14 rooms with commodious outbuildings, including stable and coach-house. The grounds are half-an-acre in extent, including orchard and vegetable garden. Very healthy situated and commanding a magnificent view. To a desirable tenant the rent will be very moderate. Apply to JOHN NOTMAN, Taupo Quay.
This is a prime building site and, while there may be good reason for it to have been vacant for nearly 20 years, there is no guarantee it always will be. What treasures lie beneath the surface both there and in Plymouth St?
