Whakamatau Lake Coleridge

Description

NameLake ColeridgeWhakamatauDescriptionEarly Māori called the lake Whakamatau, and with its plentiful supply of eels and birds, the area was an important food gathering stop on their way across the Southern Alps to gather pounamu from the West Coast.

The first Europeans arrived in the mid 1800s. They were surveyors investigating routes to West Coast gold fields. They named the area after members of the Canterbury Association (responsible for mapping Canterbury for European settlement), who were nephews of English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Run-holders settled soon after, taking up vast tracts of land for farming, which is still the area's main industry.

Lake Coleridge was ideal for the New Zealand Government's first hydroelectric power station because of its geography and its location near the growing city of Christchurch.

Lake Coleridge is 170 metres above the Rakaia River, so only gravity is needed to bring water from the lake through the power station, emptying into the Rakaia River below.

Construction workers arrived in 1911 to a wild and bleak landscape. Initially they were housed in tents and sheds. The winters were harsh which prompted the building of some permanent housing. Building the power station was a massive and dangerous undertaking. It took three years to complete, becoming operational on 25th November 1914.

At the time it was a significant engineering feat because the station was built on glacial moraine (shingle) which had never been achieved before.

In 1915 a 'show home' was built near the power station as an example of an all electric home. Electric Cottage is privately owned, but can still be seen on a walk around the village.

Today, the Lake Coleridge area is a diverse high-country location which maintains a balance between the needs of farming, industry and tourism on the one hand and retaining its original wilderness qualities on the other.

Geolocation^[1]

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Connections

CollectionLakes, Rivers and WaterwaysLake Coleridge Power Station and VillageEventLake Coleridge tunnel tragedy1918 snow stormImageBoris Daniels and his 22km journey on famous skisMen on a mission Lake power house workers on horseback rescue mission Fourteenth-century Māori campsite at Lake Coleridge VillageNarrativeTe Wai Tuku Kiri: The Waters of Our AncestorsPounamu More InformationView historical videosLake Coleridge High Country

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Whakamatau Lake Coleridge