Style: September 01, 2022

The rise of hot water in
Hanmer Springs
It’s not often you come across a person who doesn’t
have awesome memories of Hanmer Springs.
From school camps to wedding anniversaries, and
from significant birthdays to escaping the city, the
memories that have been created in Hanmer Springs are
endless and span generations.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of Hanmer
Springs’ first dressing shed (technically 151 years but like
all good celebrations last year, Covid got in the way).
To celebrate the occasion, Hanmer Springs Thermal
Pools and Spa is taking a trip down memory lane to see
where these memories first began.
According to historians, the first dressing shed was
built in Hanmer Springs in 1871 by Mr John Fry. He
built the shed and put in steps to the hot springs so his
customers of the Jollies Pass Hotel could benefit from
the thermal pools.
The site became a public establishment in 1883 when
the Crown fenced it off for the paying public, and by
1884, work was underway to build a bathhouse.
Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa general
manager Graeme Abbot says the village has certainly
come a long way since the first single dressing shed sat
on a very exposed site in the Hanmer Basin.
Segregated nude bathing was the order of the day in
the early years and hoisting the appropriate clothing
(skirt or trousers) up a pole to indicate the gender of
the moment controlled this. Later, separate pools were
introduced and, finally, mixed bathing – but swimmers
had to be clothed of course.
Graeme says the pools are steeped in history and at
the heart is a community spirit and support that can’t be
beaten.
“From the get-go, it was the support of the community
that made the thermal springs the tourism destination
it is today. We can’t thank our community enough for
helping us reach this milestone,” says Graeme.
For some 15 years prior to 1978, community groups
had to fight to secure and source Government funding
to develop the pools into a larger-scale complex that
would enable people to reap the health benefits of the
thermal springs.
As for the discovery of the thermal springs, it is
believed early Māori first happened on the springs
while passing through. While they never settled there,
the discovery of ancient native umu (ovens) indicated
travellers’ camps or signs that they had stopped and
taken rest.
Historians identified it was some years later, and in
1859 when an announcement in The Lyttelton Times
marked a discovery of “hot water springs” by Mr William
Jones. While he believed he was the first to ‘make them
generally known’, in the same year Julius von Haast
wrote about a visit to Hanmer Basin thermal springs in
his journal.
The anniversary commemorations kick off in
September and visitors to the pool complex will be able
to see the historic shed pictured on its original site and
capture themselves in historic dress.
Community events are being planned to acknowledge
all those who have supported the pools over the last
150 years.
hanmersprings.co.nz