Community Contributed
Vintage Flour Mill at Poroutawhao, Levin
Kete Horowhenua2020-03-23T16:51:56+00:00| Construction date | 1850s |
| Architect | Father Jean-Baptise Compte |
| Original owner | Ngati Huia Tribe |
| Constructed by | Ngati Huia Tribe |
Replica of vintage flour mill opened
By TANYA WOOD Horowhenua Chronicle February 5-2014
Arguably the oldest known surviving European artefacts in Horowhenua did not end up buried under a
bypass thanks to the efforts of a local farmer.
The two metal cogs had been lying on a Poroutawhao field for more than 100 years, on land formerly owned
by the late Jim Stewart. They are the only surviving remains of the flour mill built there in the 1850s by local
Maori under the guidance of a French Catholic priest Mr Stewart's wife Gae told Horowhenua Chronicle her
husband was determined the cogs should riot be lost to posterity, following a land requisition by 'the Ministry
of Works in the 1980s.
Mr Stewart also resisted several offers from private museum owners to buy the cogs and stored them in
a shed for 30 years. Bequeathed to the Horowhenua Vintage Car Club for restoration, the cogs were on public
display for the first time at the club's open day on Sunday, housed in a 4m high replica flour mill, built by
volunteers with private funding from the Stewart Family Trust, Society of Mary and Poroutawhao Hall Society.
"Jim was always going to restore the cogs 'when he had time' and I feel quite satisfied for him that these
cogs, which are of historic significance, are now made available to the public as he wanted," said Mrs Stewart,
who cut the ribbon officially opening the replica mill.
More than 100 people attended the official opening of the flour mill, including members of Ngati Huia,
descendants of the original builders and an archivist from the Society of Mary in Wellington, the same order
belonged to by the French Catholic priest and mill builder.
Flour mill not destined to handle a daily grind
The text below is from the Horowhenua Mail Newspaper dated February 6- 2014 
A once buried and forgotten mill has been partly restored to some of its former glory. The remnants ofLevin's
first flour mill, in Poroutawhao, have been restored by the Horowhenua Vintage Car Club, which now houses the
mill at its Horowhenua Showgrounds clubrooms.
The mill was officially opened on January 26 at the club's open day. The event attracted more than 50 cars and
bikes for display, and about 70 people. Gae Stewart, widow of Jim Stewart who gifted the mill remains to the car
club, officially opened the replica reconstructed mill and machinery.
Horowhenua mayor Brendan Duffy and councilors attended, along with iwi representatives from the land where
the original
mill was situated.
Historian and car club member Peter Nightingale said the flour mill was possibly the earliest known European
artefact in this district.
It was built around 1850 by Father Jean Baptise Compte as part of the Roman Catholic mission at Poroutawhao,
and one of a number built in Horowhenua, with machinery imported from France.
The mill was sited at the northwestern end of what is now Paeroa Rd, formally Mill Rd, but renamed to stop
confusion with Otaki's Mill Rd.He said the water-powered mill was built on the western bank of a man-made water
race, drawing water from a blocked off swamp, with a causeway across the swamp for access.
"Little is known about the mill and it may have fallen into disuse as
early as’ the major earthquake on 23rd of January 1885 which devastated
partsof this area,
Mr Nightingale said.It was believed the earthquake buried the mill, and
over time it was mostly forgotten, he said. But in 1988 a family of local
children exploring a drain found the mill, and the remains were salvaged
by the farmer who owned the land, Jim Stewart, and stored in one of his
sheds.
In 2009, Mr Stewart gifted the remains of the mill to the car club for
preservation.
Mr Nightingale said the Stewart family, the Society of Mary and the
Poroutawhao Hall committee had all contributed to funding the restoration.
The photo on the Left, ( Horowhenua Vintage Car Club members ) who took
on |the job of researching, restoring and reconstructing the "Vintage Flour Mill"
on the Levin site.
1. John White 2. Tony Wallace 3.Murray Tinsley, 4. Bill Shattky 5. Bill Butters
6. Ivan Benge 7. Mick Peryer, 8. 9. 10. Peter Nightingale, 11. Mark Morgan,
12. Brian Wilton 13. 14. Bruce Scott 15. 16. Wayne Thrower. 17. Chris Clarke
18. Brian Eastam 19. Don McIntyre 20. 21. John Rapely 22. Warren Vaughan.
23. 24. 25. 26. Rex Williams 27 28. Warren Birch 29.
30. 31. Neil Bowater 32. 33. Bernard Scott 34. 35. 36.
Left Photo : Part of the management team who put the project together.
1. Micheal Gaffenery 2. Peter Nightingale, 3. Colin Brooks, 4. Tom Hayes, 5 Colin Geange
How did all this start .If we go back to the mid- 1840s this is report about New Zealands
early history.
JEAN-BAPTISTE COMTE, aged 27 (on arrival in New Zealand in Group III on 9 Dec Jun 1839).
He was one of the group of five catholic priests from FRENCH MARISTS.
They sailed from
London on the Australasian Packet ship on 14 June, 1839, to arrive in Sydney on 25 October
1839 via the Cape of Good Hope.
The Martha left on 10 November to land them in the Bay of Islands on 9 December, 1839.
He began learning Maori in the Hokianga. On 31 July 1840 he left the Bay of Islands on the
Aube for Akaroa where he arrived on 16 August to begin a mission among Maori. The results
were discouraging so he left Akaroa on 16 March 1842 to return to Kororareka. He
accompanied Pompallier when the bishop left the Bay of Islands in mid-February 1844 for a
visit down East Coast, and was left at Wellington about the end of March to assist Fr O’Reily
with the care of Maori.
Later in the year he shifted his base to Waikawa and by 1845 had settled at Otaki. There
he built up a thriving Catholic community with its own school, flour mill and extensive gardens with a small ship to carry produce to
Wellington. He was a victim of his own achievements for he came to feel their commercial success was undermining his sense of priestly
values.
Towards the end of 1854 he resigned his post, left the Marists, and returned to France. He died as parish priest on 14 January 1899, aged
86.
During the time he spent in the area he helped the local Moari Iwi at Nga Haere Pa to build a water powered Flour mill to
process wheat grown in the area. The government of the day was encouraging Moari tribes ithroughout New Zealand to build mills etc.
to process crops from their gardens.There were a number of mills being built in the Wellington province at the time and parts were being
imported from Fance and England.
| Father Jean-Baptise Comte 1854
| Map showing the position of Nga Haere Pa and the flour Mill Green showing position of Nga Haere Pa |
| Local Neve family who discovered the Old Mill remains in the banks of the Waitarere Stream 1988
| Mr. Rod McDonald sitting amongst the remains of the Old Flour |
| Chief Rangihaeata nephew of Te Rauparaha was the reigning Maori chief at the time the flour mill was built 1780 - 1855 | Land owner salvaging the Mill remains from the swamp 1988
|
| Mr. Rod McDonald holding the Old grape vine planted near Paeroa Pa near the Flour Mill sight 1860s. | The salvaged gear parts stored in Mr Stewarts farm shed |
| Building the relica Vintage Flour Mill begins | The foundation all marked out |
| This is what the Vintage Flour Mill A Model ot the Vintage | Foundations ready for concrete |
| Concrete foundation ready for framing | Collecting Machinery parts from the farmers shed |
| Fame work being installed | Club members helping to collect parts from the farmer |
| Timber being milled for the cladding | Milled weather boards being fitted |
| A block of wood for making the wooden tiles | A log splitter being used to make the roof tiles |
| Wooden roof tiles in the making | Precision work making wooden roof tiles |
| Fitting tiles to the roof | Completing the roofing work |
| Progressing well, taking shape Hand made wooden cogs for | Main gears ready for restoration |
| Workers making wooden cogs | Fitting cogs to the main gear wheel |
| Precision work progressing
| Main gear wheel with wooden cogs fitted |
| Installing the gear assembly in Views inside the mill 0046 | Gears assembled in the mill |
| Views from inside the mill | Views inside the mill 0044 Views inside the mill 0045 |
| Views inside the mill 0047 Views inside the mill 0048 | Precision workmanship 0053
|
| Building complete 0042 |
|
| The old Four Mill at Otaki 1848
| Some interesting Historical facts about water powered flour mills in New Zealand ( 1847- 1860 ) Flour Mills under contruction in the Wellington Province during ( Fig. 1)
|
| Visitors at the H.V.C.C. Swap Meet day inspecting the | Two of the instigators that promoted the restoration of the Vintage Flour Mill. 1. Peter Nightingale and 2. Tom Hayes, by the front door |
| Some interesting Historical facts about water powered flour mills in New Zealand ( 1847- 1860 ) Maori Flour Mills South of the Auckland Province (1847-1860) Page 1 University of Otago By the second half of the decade of the 1840s wheat growing had become a major agricultural activity in most areas of Maori settlement. Along the Wanganui River, for example, the land devoted by the natives to this crop was by early 1848 estimated to be at least 2,000 acres. At first steel hand mills were exclusively used for grinding the grain, but the Maoris found them tedious and with but a limited output. Repairs were also a problem. Besides, many districts were growing wheat in excess of that which the local tribe could consume, and some tribes recognized that if they wished to sell the flour to Europeans, only the better quality flour as produced by watermills would be saleable at an acceptable price. This was a further inducement for the Maoris to build water-powered mills and for a number of years surplus Maori ground flour was sold in the European towns. The earliest reference to the building of a flour mill by a Maori tribe south of Auckland Province appears to be in mid-1846 when the Maoris at Waikanae were said to be proposing to erect one as soon as they could obtain the necessary funds. However, a mill at Warea, some miles south of New Plymouth, appears to have been the first actually in operation, being at work by the closing months of 1847. The pioneer mill in Auckland had been erected at Aotea in the previous year. By mid-1848 four mills were reported as built or under construction in Wellington Province and three in Taranaki. Nine years later some nine mills were reported to be in operation in Wellington (including two in the Ahuriri district) with a further six in the Taranaki Province. Throughout the period some twenty mills in all appear to have existed in southern North Island. (Fig. 1). | Some interesting Historical facts about water powered flour mills in New Zealand ( 1847- 1860 ) Flour Mills in the Manawatu area Page 2 From the map above it can be recognized that the greatest concentration was to be found in the coastal region from Horowhenua to Porirua where some seven mills were located. A noteworthy grouping within this region was centered on Otaki. Elsewhere concentrations of mills occurred in coastal Taranaki, along the Wanganui River, and in the Ahuriri district. As in the Auckland Province, the flour Mills in the southern part of the North Island were too often " kept partly as a showy plaything and as the contemporary observer put it," like the first watch a boy gets, they run a great chance of being damaged". Thus two mills in southern Taranaki were reported to be out of repair in early 1850, although they had been erected but two or so years earlier. The fear was expressed that, unless a European was employed to superintend operations, this would be the fate of all Maori water mills.
|
The French Catholic Priest who instigated the project to build the flour mill. Then taught them how to operate and service the mill to keep it operating.
Photo by G.L. Adkin collection 
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