Mining history

Post Office

St Bathans is an historic Central Otago mining town near the foot of the Hawkdun and Dunstan Ranges, 60 kilometres north of Alexandra, off SH85 (Alexandra to Ranfurly). Established in 1863 to service the area’s newly-established goldmines, in the 150 years since, St Bathans has become a special place. The town enables today's visitors to learn about the area’s mining history, see several historic buildings and admire the Central Otago landscape that it nestles in.

Buildings

St Bathans was typical of a gold mining town, in that the first buildings were probably not intended to last very long, due to the fickle nature of gold mining. Some have survived and, as a result, are unique.

Many of St Bathans buildings were mud brick, but most have long since disappeared. The hall has survived and is typical of community halls built during the gold mining and settlement years, though rare in its large size. An original mural on heavy fabric at the back of the stage adds a distinctive air of the past to the interior. The building was founded on indifferent material, including rubble fill, but despite that it has survived the structural problems that resulted.

St Bathans Hall

Blue Lake

The St Bathans Hall is the oldest continually used mud brick hall in New Zealand. It was built in 1892/93 by the local publican as a public hall ‘suitable for theatrical and other entertainment’. Later uses included a Masonic Lodge, school room, mining company office, picture theatre and dance hall. It is now classified as a Category II historic place and is one of 21 sites in the Otago Goldfields Park.   

Blue Lake

St Bathans originally lay in a small gully. After a decade of mining, Kildare Hill, which enclosed the town on one side, had been flattened and by 1936, as a result of extensive hydraulic mining, there was a lake. The lake bottom was some 40 metres below the town's main street and was filled with mineral enriched water. This is what has given the lake its blue appearance. You can walk a 2km track around Blue Lake. 

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