Welcome to Winton, the heart of Southland, that’s what the sign said. Looking for our stop for the night, we drove past a huge paddock full of stooks of wheat waiting to be harvested (we think).
Stook Meaning: “A stook, also referred to as a shock is a circular or rounded arrangement of swathes of cut grain stalks placed on the ground in a field. Typically sheaves of grains such as wheat, barley and oats may be 'stooked' so they are ready for threshing”.
Here’s our stop for the night, the Winton Golf Club. “Welcome, campers”, says the friendly sign. The club offers powered sites, showers and toilets, and as a bonus, a free washing machine. The afternoon sun filtered through a stand of poplars.
Established in 1861 the town of Winton was named after Thomas Winton, and became an important stop for those on the way to the goldfields. Farms running both sheep and dairy herds abound, and the town’s biggest industry is sawmilling, with timber being processed for both the local and export markets.
But Winton has a dark secret. It was of the home of the notorious Minnie Deans, who became the first – and only – woman to be hanged in New Zealand. Her story exposed the stark realities of paid childcare and the lack of choice that many women faced in this period. She had looked after children, for a fee, since the late 1880s at her rural Winton home, The Larches. At any one time there could be up to nine children under the age of three in her care, and an investigation took place after several suspicious deaths. Mrs Deans was hanged at Invercargill gaol on 12 August 1895, earning the dubious honour of being the only woman ever executed in New Zealand.
Minnie Deans of Winton
Dark secrets aside, Winton seemed a very pleasant town to us, a mixture of old buildings and plenty of more modern ones. I love the pretty little colonial timber churches like this and the Holy Trinity Anglican Church had to fight to survive. Built in 1876, it fell into disrepair and was threatened with demolition in 1979. After a .lot of hard work by parishioners and friends, the church was rededicated in 1981.
Jamieson’s Building was another in town which had a chequered life. Built in 1894, it survived two major fires in 1901 and 1921. The Jamieson family ran a bakery and restaurant on the ground floor and lived upstairs. In 1894 the Southland Times newspaper described the building as “the finest building in Winton and a most decided ornament to the town. The building is still involved in the food trade (take-aways) to this day.
Here is a selection of other interesting old buildings in the main street.
Back in camp to cook the evening meal and later in the evening a most glorious sunset filled the sky. Out came the cameras to capture this lovely sight. A great finale to another good day travelling and exploring our wonderful country.
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