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Ryelands Pond waterwheel by Colin Brown
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TitleRyelands Pond waterwheel by Colin Brown
DescriptionColin Brown is the builder of the replica waterwheel for Moffat’s Mill heritage site, Ryelands Pond, Lincoln.
The discovery of a large replica waterwheel in a Gibbston paddock led Lincoln Rotarians Ross Mitchell and Max Duncan to Colin Brown, retired Southland farmer with an extraordinary drive to restore and recreate heritage buildings and machinery, including waterwheels.
Colin agreed to build a replica wheel for Rotary’s project to highlight the history of Lincoln’s flour mill on the Liffey (L1) stream.
In late 2024 Colin visited the former mill site in Lincoln and had a close look at the old waterwheel at Duvauchelle, before heading home to begin work.
Colin’s base is the old Fairfax School, which he and his wife Anne bought in the late 1980s as a retirement project. Now, there are not only the School buildings, but also a recreated Railway Station, with historic rolling stock and a replica steam engine, windmill, 1900s jail, and much more.
Coincidentally, Fairfax is close to both Otautau where Henry Moffat built his third flour mill in 1884, and also his later farm at Orawia.
Anne and Colin delivered the waterwheel on their trailer to Lincoln Rotary’s safe storage in Darfield in May 2025. The waterwheel, engineered to turn on the smallest flow of water just had to wait for the site engineering to be completed.
In July 2026 the Selwyn District Council project team arranged for its transport and installation in the newly landscaped area opposite the original mill site.
“For me history is everything. It’s the drive to keep me going”, Colin told Southland Times reporter Jamie Searle in 2017.
In the companion video clip from 202?, Colin introduces the waterwheel.
Additional Rights InformationThe video is made available courtesy of Ross Mitchell, Lincoln Rotary.
DescriptionColin Brown is the builder of the replica waterwheel for Moffat’s Mill heritage site, Ryelands Pond, Lincoln.The discovery of a large replica waterwheel in a Gibbston paddock led Lincoln Rotarians Ross Mitchell and Max Duncan to Colin Brown, retired Southland farmer with an extraordinary drive to restore and recreate heritage buildings and machinery, including waterwheels.
Colin agreed to build a replica wheel for Rotary’s project to highlight the history of Lincoln’s flour mill on the Liffey (L1) stream.
In late 2024 Colin visited the former mill site in Lincoln and had a close look at the old waterwheel at Duvauchelle, before heading home to begin work.
Colin’s base is the old Fairfax School, which he and his wife Anne bought in the late 1980s as a retirement project. Now, there are not only the School buildings, but also a recreated Railway Station, with historic rolling stock and a replica steam engine, windmill, 1900s jail, and much more.
Coincidentally, Fairfax is close to both Otautau where Henry Moffat built his third flour mill in 1884, and also his later farm at Orawia.
Anne and Colin delivered the waterwheel on their trailer to Lincoln Rotary’s safe storage in Darfield in May 2025. The waterwheel, engineered to turn on the smallest flow of water just had to wait for the site engineering to be completed.
In July 2026 the Selwyn District Council project team arranged for its transport and installation in the newly landscaped area opposite the original mill site.
“For me history is everything. It’s the drive to keep me going”, Colin told Southland Times reporter Jamie Searle in 2017.
In the companion video clip from 202?, Colin introduces the waterwheel.
Additional Rights InformationThe video is made available courtesy of Ross Mitchell, Lincoln Rotary.Connections
CollectionRyelands Pond on the Liffey Stream (L1) in LincolnPlaceLincolnMore InformationRead more about Colin's work here
PlaceLincolnMore InformationRead more about Colin's work hereloading google map....
Ryelands Pond waterwheel by Colin Brown. Selwyn Stories, accessed 05/08/2026, https://selwynstories.selwynlibraries.co.nz/nodes/view/7146