Photographic prints and image files of Thames District, Coromandel, NZ

Thames District, Coromandel, New Zealand. This gallery includes images from Thames, The Firth of Thames, Waiomu, Waikawau and Tapu.

​Thames was formed from two historic towns, Grahamstown and Shortland, of which many original buildings still stand. Shortland was to the south of Thames and was founded on 27 July 1867 when James Mackay, civil commissioner for the Hauraki District, concluded an agreement with local Māori. The land was rented for mining purposes for the sum of £5,000 per year, a colossal sum in the mid 19th century. This agreement secured the rights to local mineral deposits leading to the proclamation of the Thames Goldfield on 1 August. The leasing of the land for such a huge income was a source of great envy by other Maori iwi and hapu. Grahamstown was founded the following year at the northern end of present Thames, approximately one mile from Shortland. The two towns merged in 1874 after it emerged the heart of the Goldfield was in Grahamstown. Shortland waned in importance until the turn of the century when the Hauraki Plains were developed for farming and the Shortland railway station was opened. Source: Wikipedia.

The Thames School of Mines was established in 1886. The complex is particularly significant for its links with science and technology, still containing a large amount of equipment related to the development and teaching of mining and extraction techniques. Its well-preserved interiors demonstrate the use and appearance of educational structures prior to the twentieth century. The school was closed in 1954. Source; Web. Te Ara. NZ Museums.

A&G Price.
In 1871 Alfred and George Price opened "a foundry and engineering works in Thames, near the booming gold mining industry developing on the Coromandel Peninsula. Powered by Pelton wheels from water piped from the nearby ranges, the company was soon thriving, manufacturing ore stampers, crushers and feeders, steam engines, boilers, timber jacks and Pelton wheels – all designed or modified by the Price brothers. In the late 1880’s the company designed and built a steam locomotive for the local gold mining industry. So good was the quality of this locomotive that a whole new industry was born. The implementation of a rail network within NZ led to A & G Price Ltd supplying a total of 298 steam and diesel locomotives for NZ Rail, plus numerous other shunting and special-purpose locomotives for private industry". Source: A&G Price website.
In the late 1970's I visited the A&G Price premises and made a photographic record of their equipment and machinery. This formed part of a nationwide heavy engineering capability and capacity audit, which I undertook for the Heavy Engineering Research Association.

Tapu, Thames Coast
Prior to 1830 Tapu was known as  Waipatukakahu which can be interpreted to mean “the  stream where flax garments are beaten or washed “ Deborah Jowitt, author of "These Hills are Tapu",  suggests that  at that time it could have been a place of peace and domestic industry. However,  that all changed in 1830 when the resident Ngati Tamatera and a raiding party of Ngati Hei from Mercury Bay were involved in a massive conflict leaving the area labelled as a sacred place. Women and children were slaughtered while the men were fishing and hunting. The river was said to flow red with blood into the sea. In the early settler days Tapu was previously known as Hastings. It was home to miners, farmers and kauri workers.  Source, Tapu School website. Web.

Waikawau, Thames Coast
The reserve area has been built up over the years from fill and debris from slips up and down the Thames coast road. In the early days Winstones barged shingle to Auckland to provide building materials for the city. When Auckland stopped using trams some of the carriages were moved to Waikawau to provide holiday homes. Source: Waikawau Boat Ramp website.

Waiomu, Thames Coast.
John Logan Campbell, who is best-known as an early Auckland settler, spent three months at Waiomu before he shifted to Waitematā. The Monowai quartz reef up the Waiomu Valley was mined until the 1930s. Waiomu is now known for its domain, with a reclining pōhutukawa, and a kauri-grove walk. Waiomo was the site of the Zeehan mine. "Various plans have been put forward to re-open the mine from the 1970's, usually opposed by local groups. The old battery site is part of a walk up the Waiomu valley to a Kauri tree location. Little remains. Various adits are in the hills above, with waste rock covering the hill side below each one, although are not easily accessible". Source: Mindat.org. Web.

The Streets of Thames
Thames has furniture, biscuit, cordial and pickle factories, and Auckland is extensively supplied with fish by Thames fishermen. There are the usual churches, schools, hotels, places of business, Friendly Societies, a School of Mines and public library. The climate is delicious; fruit, ordinary and sub-tropical, thrives and abounds in the gardens of the miners and throughout the district; and the scenery consists in harmonious proportions of hill and flat, forest and sea, and far-stretching mountains. Steamers ply daily between Auckland and the Thames, which, now that the railway has been completed, has also daily direct communication with Auckland via the Waikato and the intervening districts. Source: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand, 1902.

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THAMES