Heritage sites in Canterbury

Cotons Cottage and the surrounding land were gifted to the Crown in 1974 for an historic reserve. Despite being small, it’s a huge part of the heritage of the district.

The Adderley Head Signal Station was established in 1867 and operated until 1949. The building is currently closed to the public.

The original Akaroa Lighthouse started operation on the headland of Akaroa Heads in 1880. One hundred years later, it was moved down to Akaroa Township, after being replaced by an automated light.

Arthur’s Pass was established in 1929 and was New Zealand’s third national park and the first one in the South Island. Jacks Hut is, a rare surviving example of a roadman’s cottage.

This is a basic six-bunk hut in the North Canterbury and Arthur's Pass area. The hut has local historic significance for its role in high country sheep farming.

This is a basic two-bunk hut in Ruataniwha Conservation Park. Dasler Biv, formerly know as Cullers Biv, was built in 1966 by the New Zealand Forest Service to accommodate wild animal control hunters.

A historic cemetery on Mesopotamia Station in the headwaters of the Rangitata River holds the last resting place of Dr Andrew Sinclair, Colonial Secretary to the New Zealand Government.

Built in 1939, the Godley Head coastal defence battery is ranked as one of the top ten New Zealand coastal defence heritage sites.

The historic Hakatere buildings were once at the heart of high country life in the Ashburton Gorge.

Hooker Hut is an eight-bunk serviced hut. It is the oldest hut in Aoraki/Mount Cook.

This is a standard 16-bunk hut in the North Canterbury and Arthur's Pass area. Historically, the hut is an example of early Government involvement in recreation and tourism in the area.

Historic features in the Hakatere Conservation Park area include the Mt Harper Ice Rink and associated buildings - possibly the first purpose-built public skating rink in the Southern Hemisphere.

This is a bookable serviced nine-bunk hut in the Christchurch and Banks Peninsula area. Easy access from the Kaituna Valley means this hut is suitable for small children and family groups.

Quailburn Station was once part of the vast property known as Benmore Run, which was one of the largest properties in Otago during the 1870s. Visitors to the historic site will find a woolshed, sheep-dip, homestead and some hut ruins dating from 1866.

This historic hut is set on a river fan of the Hopkins with surrounding beech forest in Ruataniwha Conservation Park.

Tucked close to the shore of Whakaraupō (Lyttelton Harbour), Ripapa Island was an ideal site for a fortified pa for Ngāi Tahu and later a fortress for coastal defence.

Sefton Bivouac is the oldest hut in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park still on its original site and the oldest building in the wider environs of the park. It has served generations of climbers.

Built in the late 1800s, the Staveley Lime Kilns are excellent examples of early New Zealand industry.

The St James Conservation Area was one of the largest operating cattle/sheep stations in the country, dating back to 1862. Learn more about the history of the area, and how St James Station came to be conservation land.

This is a basic six-bunk hut in the North Canterbury and Arthur's Pass area. A physical remnant of depression mining, Urquharts Hut is historically significant.

At Weka Pass Historic Reserve you can take a 40-minute walk to a large overhang shelter that features examples of early Māori rock art.

Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park has a rich cultural and industrial heritage. To Ngāi Tahu, Aoraki represents the most sacred of ancestors.