Gabriels Gully, near Lawrence, and Butlers Farm, just outside Alexandra, were yesterday given category 1 registration, reflecting their historical and cultural heritage significance and value.
Gabriels Gully was the site of the first major gold find in Otago, that led to the early gold rushes in the province.
Trust Otago-Southland area manager Owen Graham praised the support for its registration from the Department of Conservation and Clutha District Council.
The site played a significant role in Central Otago history that carries on today. The area will be a focal point of Lawrence's sesquicentennial celebrations in 2011, marking the 150th anniversary of Gabriel Read's discovery of gold there.
"The life of the alluvial old miner was certainly the stuff of national imagination; their distinctive lifestyle based around chasing gold, working hard, playing equally hard, with a sense of adventure, shaped the identity of Central Otago," Mr Graham said.
Butlers Farm is an important grouping of buildings, comprising a stone farmstead and barn and other outbuildings, in the Fruitlands district.
Established in the early 1870s, it was associated with the Fruitlands orcharding firm.
Fruit tree planting began there in 1915 with 90ha accommodating 30,000 trees but severe winters in the 1920s eventually saw the land revert to farming.
