Rabbit fence failed but still stands tall
A century-old rabbit fence stretching across Marlborough’s high country could soon be listed as a heritage site.
The barbed wire and netting barrier was built along steep ridges, sometimes up to 2000 metres above sea level, down into deep gullies and through rivers between the Wairau and Awatere valleys.
Waihopai Valley merino farmer Geoff Evans said he intended to list the fence with Heritage NZ as a historic site.
The fence started in the Wairau Valley, near The Bounds Station, and followed the Wye River into Evans’ 3000-hectare Stronvar Station property, 60 kilometres south of Blenheim.
It then headed towards the Spray River and Awatere Valley.
Evans said more research was needed to determine the origins of the fence before an application was made to Heritage NZ.
The exact date for when the rabbit fence first popped up varied from the late 1880s to the early 1900s, he said.
Two other rabbit-proof fences, in North Canterbury and Wairarapa, were listed as heritage sites.
Rabbits became a pest animal in New Zealand in the 1860s after being brought into the country for hunting in 1838.
The section of fence at Stronvar once formed the boundary line between the historic 32,000ha Hillersden Station, which was split up into 42 blocks in 1914, and the neighbouring Glazebrook Station.
Evans said the skill and effort required by the fencers deserved to be highlighted.
‘‘It’s a vital piece of farming history in the region.
‘‘It was built by fencers enduring huge deprivation, often working and living in harsh conditions.
‘‘There were no helicopters or tractors in those days, they carted all the materials like steel flat standards and wire up steep hills using pack horses, or on their own backs,’’ Evans said.
‘‘It is amazing how long it has lasted, it’s an absolute credit to the men who built it, many of whom are now forgotten.’’
Over the past 100 years, the fence had been refurbished and repaired but large sections remained upright, he said.
‘‘Pigs, erosion and snow drift have damaged parts of the fence line but, in the main, the original wire and flat standards used to build it have remained as strong as when they were first put in.’’
Two men were required for its construction, he said.
‘‘One fencer held a rock drill which he twisted into the hard ground, while the other fencer hammered the drill bit to make a hole for the standard to sit in.
‘‘Melted hot sulphur was then poured into the hole to cement the standard tight in the ground.’’
Netting was tied to the bottom half of the 90cm high fence and dug in up to a metre deep to prevent rabbits burrowing.
But the fence was not successful in keeping out rabbits and the area was overrun by them.
‘‘Unfortunately the rabbits got around the fence before it was finished.’’