Arrowtown jail is once again in good nick after an impressive and expensive revamp. The prison’s unruly history spans more than 140 years and includes an attempted escape, visits by women of questionable morals and numerous drunken escapades. As the historic building officially reopens this weekend, Louise Scott delves into its past.
The discovery of gold in the Wakatipu brought with it thievery, drunkenness and general lawlessness. By the mid 1860s, miners flocked to the region in their thousands. Police were often dispatched from Dunedin to deal with loutish behaviour.
Sergeant Major Hugh Bracken was the first to be sent to Arrowtown in 1862, just two weeks after the start of the rush.
Claim-jumping, thefts and violence were rampant, particularly among a rowdy group referred to as the Tipperary Men — a bunch of Irish blokes who had little respect for property or life.
The jail, now a category 1 listed building, opened in 1876 at a cost of £500, and is the fourth-oldest in the country. However, until its opening, rule-breakers were held by "logging" — being shackled to a log. David Clarke, a Wakatipu Heritage Trust trustee and one of those behind a $215,000 restoration of the jail, said it was was not the most secure way to hold prisoners.
It certainly did not stop one Irishman — a boxer nicknamed Flower of Wheat.
"It was just a leg chain and he was pretty strong. When he woke up with the dry horrors he stuck the log on his shoulders and police found him down at the pub still chained to it. Then they built a wooden cell and ultimately in 1876 the present jail."
In the early days, most offences related to drunkenness and disorderly behaviour, gold stealing and prostitution.
Some arguments centred on food, or the lack of it. Many were hungry as there were not enough supplies to support a growing community. Back then, the area had many single men, living in makeshift tents, with no real infrastructure.
Those were party days, Mr Clarke said, when grog-shanties popped up all over Queenstown and Arrowtown from the Arrow River up to Shotover.
"There were bowling alleys, rat-baiting, dog fights, games of skittles, guys out the front of every establishment touting for business. All you had to have was a supply of booze and a tent."
The revamped jail reopens tomorrow with a nod to its notorious past.
Visitors will be able to walk through the cells, get locked up in the "logs", view the guard’s room, read information panels and be greeted with stories based on characters of the day. The accompanying audio will be triggered when visitors walk in. Mr Clarke, who is also Lakes District Museum director, said it would give people an insight into what things were like in the early days, when Arrowtown was known as Fox’s.
One portrayal is of Mary-Ann Anderson, nicknamed the bull pup, a notorious lady of the night who was often getting drunk and locked up for running a "disorderly house".
Her defence was always the same, Mr Clarke said.
"I’m a fine upstanding citizen. Running a disorderly house, [the] sergeant said. What rubbish. My house is in perfect order; all my gentlemen callers say so."
Hers is not the only tale of the time.
Arrowtown Born of Gold, a museum publication, says there were many instances of claim-jumping, theft and violence.
Sgt Maj Bracken had a lot to deal with.
"The area was large, the force small and the task a daunting one. However, by force of his personality, and the threat of meeting violence with violence, Sgt Maj Bracken put an end to the worst excesses and brought some normality.
"Bracken was one of the first parties of police, who were recruited in Victoria and landed in Dunedin on the 20th of August, 1861. Many of the recruits were ex-army, a number being Crimea War veterans. They were young, fit and armed with a revolver and cutlass [sword]. They carried the provincial government’s authority into the remotest parts under difficult conditions."
Once Arrowtown was firmly established, the jail and the police force were part of day-to-day life.
Later, in the 1920s, one prisoner tried to escape, Mr Clarke said.
"They jumped the guard, locked him up and took off. But because there were only a couple of roads out of town he didn’t get very far — I think he was caught down by Lake Hayes."
Mr Clarke has been lobbying for the restoration of the jail since the late 1980s and hopes it will become another "must do" for locals and tourists. All up it took three years to secure funding and is a collaboration between the Wakatipu Heritage Trust, the Department of Conservation and Queenstown Lakes District Council — as the landowner.
In 2014, the Government also pitched in with $75,000. Overall, it needed more than a lick of paint.
Roy Bagley, from Arrowtown, has been one of those working on the refurbishment. Although the structure was sound, it needed a lot of TLC and earthquake-proofing, he said.
Damage included rising damp and plaster was hanging off walls.
Wayward New Year’s Eve revellers in 1987, when the jail was last used, did quite a bit of damage when they unsuccessfully attempted to escape. The revamp team has been working with a conservation architect to ensure all aspects of the restoration fitted with the history of the building.
Irishman Donal Hickey was brought in to do specialist plastering. Mr Hickey has spent more than 20 years plastering old buildings using old techniques. His CV includes working on Strancally Castle in his native County Waterford in Ireland.
Mr Bagley said using old techniques was important.
"We used a lime-based plaster which is traditional. He [Mr Hickey] has been removing the old plaster and taking it back to the stone. The reason we use lime and not a cement-base plaster is because it’s compatible with the construction of the building. It allows it to breathe which is important. That is why we are using traditional methods — it brings the authenticity back. We then have to lime wash it all as we can’t use paint."
Mr Bagley, who has restored various old buildings across the district, said his motivation was in seeing old buildings back in use.
Those who visit the jail, which includes five cells and an officer’s room, will be impressed, he said. Lakes District Museum will act as custodian once it is up and running and will be furnishing the jail to replicate what it would have looked like when it was originally used. Anyone who wants to unlock Arrowtown’s latest tourist attraction will have to ask at the museum for the keys.
Be there
• Arrowtown Jail opens tomorrow at 2pm, followed by People From Our Past — Law and Justice, by the Queenstown and District Historical Society, St John’s Presbyterian Church, Arrowtown, 2.45pm.
