Selwyn Times: January 08, 2020

8 Wednesday January 8 2020
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SELWYN TIMES
News
Brookside – the district’s best
THE SMALL picturesque
hamlet of Brookside is a historic
gem in the story of colonial
settlement in the Selwyn
District, even though few people
other than Ellesmere locals know
where it is or that it even exists.
Now no more than a small
number of old buildings dating
back to the 1860s, along with a
few farms and lifestyle blocks,
nestled among woodlots of
beautiful mature specimen trees,
Brookside is an important living
link to the district’s past and was
once a thriving community.
Located at the intersections of
Brookside-Burnham Rd, Brookside-Irwell
Rd, and Boundary
Creek Rd, the best approach to
the settlement is from Selwyn
Lake Rd.
Originally known as South
Selwyn, this name caused some
confusion with the nearby village
of Selwyn – located on the
south side of the current Selwyn
bridge on State Highway 1. In
1870 the name of the settlement
was changed to Brookside in
honour of Thomas Brooks who
had gifted land for the establishment
of the school and the
Methodist Church.
Brookside is now dominated
by fertile farmland, but
in its natural state it was heavy
swampland covered in flax and
raupo. There was also some lighter
drier land covered in tussock
in parts of the area, especially on
the north side of the Irwell Creek
that runs through the hamlet
towards Irwell and on to Lake
Ellesmere.
It is unknown whether there
was any permanent Maori settlement
in the area, but there
was evidence found of middens
and stone implement during the
colonial era that indicated some
form of earlier occupation.
The first freehold land at
Brookside was made available in
1860, which led to a number of
pioneering families taking the
opportunity to establish their
own small farms.
In 1861 Isaac Mawson was the
Historian and district council staff member Wayne
Stack continues his monthly look at Selwyn’s past.
Anyone with suggestions for future features can
phone Wayne on 021 119 9107. This month’s feature
is about the hamlet of Brookside.
‘HOLY CITY’: Brookside Methodist Church around 1900, it is
now a converted residence. ​
HARDY: Middlerigg homestead – built in 1884 by William Boag
and still in existence.
first to buy land in the area, followed
by William Boag in 1862
who established a substantial estate
called ‘Middlerigg’. Around
1864 the Cunningham, Moor,
Stewart, Watson and Brooks
families purchased land and
began their long association
Our Great
history
WITH WAYNE STACK
ONCE THRIVING: Brookside School in 1937 – the original 1867
classroom is the left part of the building.
with the area.
These hardy pioneers then set
about transforming the area into
productive farmland, ensuring it
eventually became a flourishing
agricultural community.
Tussock was burned and large
tracks of swamp were drained; a
mammoth task in an era when
this could only be achieved
through manual labour, horsepower
and rudimentary tools.
By 1900 the whole area had
been transformed into welldrained,
high cultivated land;
although the location was still
exposed to flooding from the
Selwyn River several kilometers
to the north of the hamlet.
Wheat became the staple crop
grown in the better drained
areas and was sown as soon as
the land was cleared. Oats, barley
and peas were also grown, with
around 3500 acres of land eventually
being cropped annually.
Initially, the ploughing of
the fields was done by a singlefurrow
implement towed by two
horses, and it was estimated that
farmers walked 10 to 12 miles in
ploughing a single acre.
In the early years, transportation
of farm produce to markets
was limited to using a horse and
dray for the eight-hour journey to
Christchurch. Things improved
from 1869 when the railhead was
extended to Selwyn, followed by
the establishment of the Southbridge
branch line in 1875.
The damper land around the
village proved extremely good
for dairying and grazing. A
number of farmers had large
flocks of sheep, which at the
time were primarily used to
produce wool. Dairying and
cheese-making also became
leading industries in the area,
with butter and cheese being
exported.
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