In admiration of ‘artisans cottages’

The Timaru Civic Trust was originally formed to save key elements of the earliest built fabric within the CBD.

However, the trust has a wider role in noting the achievements of the founders of the town, not just the heroic but also the humble.

Early settlement by Mā ori and Europeans created a focus within the Canterbury Bight but to continue that metaphor, waves of influence have come from continental Europe, North America and Asia for example.

Given the relative ease of publication in the electronic world, it is not surprising that in recent years many substantial books have been published relating to New Zealand’s built heritage. For example not just the origin and the flow of state housing but also the reworking of these houses to suit modern lifestyles have been thoroughly photographed and documented.

Timaru is a new town by any world measure, on the opposite side of the globe to many of the influences aforementioned. One of the very first events arranged by the Civic Trust was to invite a highly regarded architectural historian to lead walking tours within the residential areas of the town.

This role was filled by Jonathan Mane´ -Wheoki who shared his deep knowledge of first some established houses north of Wai-iti Rd but then, on a later stroll, his admiration of the original ‘‘artisans’ cottages’’ (Mane´ Wheoki’s term) south of North St. – David McBride