Living Heritage -

Totara Estate

Totara Estate is a farm. It had 20,000 sheep. It started way back in 1866.

The Carcass Hanging shed.

The Carcass hanging shed was built in 1881. Its other name was the meat house.
There was a hole in the north wall to allow trimmings of the animals to be fed to the 200 pigs. One butcher killed 50 sheep a day. There were 6 be fed to the 200 pigs. One butcher killed 50 sheep a day. There were 6 butchers, that means 300 dead sheep a day.

The Stable

The stable was the most important part of Totara Estate. The stable is made of Oamaru stone with an iron roof. There was a very unusual ladder that was gouged out of the stone. The south west corner was used for breaking in horses. There was a harness room at the west side of the stable. The remains of 1902 newspapers can still be seen.

The Granary

The Granary kept lots of the machinery at Totara Estate. In 1884 an oat crusher hopper and a hoist were in use and by 1903 a grain grader and elevator were also installed. When it was raining the workers were told to sew up the top of the sacks in the Granary. The initials of an overseer are on the side of the Granary. In 1896 one wall was temporarily removed to put in a marquee for a harvest home celebration. The tradition of holding dances continued until the 1960`s. The Granary still remains as a reminder of all the work they did.

One day you should visit Totara Estate in New Zealand, South Island, North Otago, Oamaru.