Heritage

John Barton Arundel Acland (1823 – 1904) arrived in New Zealand on 4 January, 1855 aboard the clipper Mary Stuart, with his friend Charles Tripp. Acland the sixth son of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, had graduated from Oxford with a degree in Mathematics then gone on to study law for three years.

It had been no sudden decision to come to New Zealand. Both Acland and Tripp had been destined for professional careers but had abandoned them in favour of farming in the colony, which they believed would be a land of opportunity. On 30 July 1855, they each made an application for 57,000 acres of land around the Rangitata River: land which had been neither explored nor surveyed.

Men of experience warned them against taking up this land and spoke of the “perpendicular” banks of the Rangitata and the danger of the river. Acland and Tripp were, however, undismayed by such warnings. In a letter home Acland wrote that “in the Colonies you always like to see for yourself, and the worse the account you hear of unoccupied country, the greater the reason for going to look at it.

During spring (1855) and summer (1856), the pair explored the upper reaches of the Rangitata, Orari and Ashburton Rivers, burning the country as they went sowing grass and clover seed. Resting from their explorations one Sunday, they selected a site for a homestead, close to water and timber on the terrace above the Rangitata River.

After 20 days of exploration, Acland and Tripp returned to Christchurch. Though the year was not too advanced to stock the run, the partners decided to spend another season working on other properties, to prepare fully for the task of establishing their sheep station.

Mount Peel Station really began on 10 May 1856 when Acland and Tripp, with their station hands and Mr and Mrs Robert Smith, crossed the Rangitata with a bullock dray loaded with supplies.

The first house on the station, completed in 19 days, had walls formed from cabbage trees. A second more substantial dwelling was followed by a cowshed, stockyard and garden. The first sheep came to Mount Peel on 30 May, 1856 and by 1857, 3500 were on the property. In the same year, the first 19 bales of wool were sold in London.

The present homestead was build by Frederick Strouts in 1865 to an English design. The bricks were fired in a kiln near the entrance gates and timber was cut from the nearby forest.

Outwardly, the house stands much as its designers built it. The homestead was originally named “Holnicote” after Acland’s old Somerset home.

J.B.A. Acland loved trees. In his journal entry for 28 September 1856, he writes that he is bringing some fir cones down from Christchurch to the station. “I hope, if I live, to do my share to reproduce England in this southern hemisphere.” He had the habit of asking guests to plant a tree in his garden: now this maturing forest provides a fine setting for the house.

The garden contains some of the oldest exotic trees in South Canterbury - a Douglas fir planted in 1859, Pinus insignis planted in 1859, and oaks, cedars spruce and poplars planted in 1862.

The Mount Peel Homestead Trust

In 2009 and 2010 the homestead underwent a major refurbishment, which saw the kitchen being relocated to the northern aspect to create a family friendly space. A glazed extension was added to accommodate informal dining and living.

In addition to these changes, the Category 1 New Zealand Listed Homestead also underwent a major seismic strengthening alteration, which provided the homestead with the additional structural strength required to with stand the effects of the devastating Darfield Earthquake.

The changes made to the homestead have been done with deliberate sensitivity and resulted in winning a New Zealand Institute of Architects Heritage Award in 2010.