Selwyn Times: October 04, 2016

SELWYN TIMES Tuesday October 4 2016 13
News
Plans to rebuild historic cottage
• By Tom Doudney
A FORMER Rolleston cottage,
which may have been built as
early as 147 years ago, could be
rebuilt following the excavation
of the site where it once stood.
The Dynes Rd site was excavated
18 months ago, with an old
land deed revealing that it was
almost as old as the town itself.
Rolleston will celebrate its 150th
anniversary in 11 days time.
Records showed that the
crown sold the land to K. Kelly
in 1869. A Witter Archaeology
report concluded that, while
that did not necessarily date the
building, “such a structure might
be expected to follow soon after.”
The site’s owner, former district
councillor Annette Foster,
said she and her family were
in the process of having plans
drawn up to rebuild the cottage
based on a photograph sourced
from the Canterbury Museum.
The photograph, taken in 1928,
had appeared in a 2007 book
by George Singleton about the
former Ellesmere county.
Mrs Foster and her late husband,
David, had deliberately retained
ownership of the cottage
site on Dynes Rd when they sold
the surrounding 121ha for the
Faringdon subdivision, Foster
Park and Rolleston College.
“We thought it was really important
for Rolleston to actually
have something which related
to its history, because Rolleston
PIECES OF
HISTORY:
Annette Foster
with late 19th
century Rhine
pattern china
found in the
excavation of
a site on her
property where
a cottage
was built 147
years ago.
PHOTO: TOM
DOUDNEY
wasn’t really a place where people
settled, it was a transient area
and a lot of the land was owned
by people in Leeston, Springston
and Lincoln and was used as
their dry land run-off,” she said.
AS IT WAS: This photograph of the former cottage was taken
in 1928 and later appeared in a 2007 book about the former
Ellesmere county. Mrs Foster and her family plan to rebuild it.
PHOTO: CANTERBURY MUSEUM
“I think you would struggle to
find anything in Rolleston that is
older than this site.”
Excavations unearthed artefacts
dating to the 1880s, including
Rhine pattern china, glass,
wire, metal items and the remnants
of household furniture.
Mrs Foster said her intention
was to hold occasional open days
once the cottage was restored so
people could view it.
The cottage had been originally
built as a sod cottage, but
then was built on to with cob,
which was unusual.
It was thought to have
belonged to the Kelly family
who owned the property at the
time.
Before his death more than a
year ago, Mr Foster, whose family
had owned the property for
75 years, had been able to recall
as a child seeing a mound of sod
with remnants of a chimney
where the house stood.
Although the excavations
were carried out 18 months ago,
the report into the site was only
completed about three months
ago.
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