St Bathans, formerly named Dunstan Creek,[1] is a former gold and coalmining town in Central Otago, New Zealand. The settlement was a centre of the Otago Gold Rush, but mining has since long ceased. It is now largely a holiday retreat due to the preservation of many of its historic buildings.
Historic town center
St Bathans is well known for Blue Lake, a small man-made lake created by gold-sluicing that transformed the 120-metre high Kildare Hill into a 168-metre deep pit. After mining stopped in 1934, the hole accumulated water, which turned a distinctive blue hue due to minerals from the surrounding rocks.[2] It is currently a camping spot, and swimming is allowed in the lake.
The town was named for the Scottish Borders village of Abbey St Bathans by early surveyor John Turnbull Thomson; the Scottish village was the birthplace of Thomson's maternal grandfather. It is 40 kilometres northwest of Ranfurly and 60 kilometres northeast of Alexandra, near the Dunstan Creek, beneath the St Bathans Range and Dunstan mountains.
The Vulcan Hotel (at 44°52′15″S169°48′40″E / 44.87083°S 169.81111°E / -44.87083; 169.81111) is a restored public house located on the main street of St Bathans, and is the town's main tourist attraction. Originally called the Ballarat Hotel, the building was originally constructed in 1882 of mud brick.[3] The building is registered as a Category I historic place by Heritage New Zealand.[4] The building is notable as possibly the country's most famous haunted building.[5] Room 1 of the hotel is reputedly home to the spirit of a young woman, thought by some to be a prostitute known "the Rose", who was strangled to death in the hotel in the 1880s.[6]
Geology and palaeontologyedit
Palaeontologists sieving for fossils in the Manuherikia River
The town lends its name to the St Bathans fauna, a rich palaeontological section of the lower Bannockburn Formation of the Manuherikia Group, with an age range of 19–16 million years ago. The layer in which the fossils are found derives from littoral zone sediments deposited in a large shallow freshwater lake bordered by an extensive floodplains.[7] The fossiliferous layer has been exposed at places along the Manuherikia River close to the town, and is the remnant of the prehistoric Lake Manuherikia.
In 2006, scientists reported the finding of nontherianmammal fossils in the Manuherikia Group near St Bathans. Previously it had been thought that bats were the only terrestrial mammals native to New Zealand. Dubbed the SB mammal (for St Bathans), the scientists' analysis indicates that the creature has a lineage distinct from monotremes (egg-laying mammals), eutherians (placental mammals) and metatherians (marsupials).[8]
^New Zealand Ghosts - St Bathans 2014-04-05 at the Wayback Machine
^Worthy TH; Tennyson AJD; Jones C; McNamara JA; Douglas BJ (2007). "Miocene waterfowl and other birds from central Otago, New Zealand" (PDF). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 5 (1): 1–39. Bibcode:2007JSPal...5....1W. doi:10.1017/S1477201906001957. hdl:2440/43360. S2CID 85230857.
^Trevor H. Worthy; et al. (2006-12-19). "Miocene mammal reveals a Mesozoic ghost lineage on insular New Zealand, southwest Pacific". PNAS. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
saint, bathans, community, scotland, abbey, bathans, bathans, formerly, named, dunstan, creek, former, gold, coal, mining, town, central, otago, zealand, settlement, centre, otago, gold, rush, mining, since, long, ceased, largely, holiday, retreat, preservatio. For the community in Scotland see Abbey St Bathans St Bathans formerly named Dunstan Creek 1 is a former gold and coal mining town in Central Otago New Zealand The settlement was a centre of the Otago Gold Rush but mining has since long ceased It is now largely a holiday retreat due to the preservation of many of its historic buildings Historic town centerSt Bathans is well known for Blue Lake a small man made lake created by gold sluicing that transformed the 120 metre high Kildare Hill into a 168 metre deep pit After mining stopped in 1934 the hole accumulated water which turned a distinctive blue hue due to minerals from the surrounding rocks 2 It is currently a camping spot and swimming is allowed in the lake The town was named for the Scottish Borders village of Abbey St Bathans by early surveyor John Turnbull Thomson the Scottish village was the birthplace of Thomson s maternal grandfather It is 40 kilometres northwest of Ranfurly and 60 kilometres northeast of Alexandra near the Dunstan Creek beneath the St Bathans Range and Dunstan mountains The area attracts many visitors intent on gold prospecting Contents 1 Vulcan Hotel 2 Geology and palaeontology 2 1 St Bathans mammal 2 2 Other taxa 3 ReferencesVulcan Hotel edit nbsp Vulcan Hotel St BathansThe Vulcan Hotel at 44 52 15 S 169 48 40 E 44 87083 S 169 81111 E 44 87083 169 81111 is a restored public house located on the main street of St Bathans and is the town s main tourist attraction Originally called the Ballarat Hotel the building was originally constructed in 1882 of mud brick 3 The building is registered as a Category I historic place by Heritage New Zealand 4 The building is notable as possibly the country s most famous haunted building 5 Room 1 of the hotel is reputedly home to the spirit of a young woman thought by some to be a prostitute known the Rose who was strangled to death in the hotel in the 1880s 6 Geology and palaeontology edit nbsp Palaeontologists sieving for fossils in the Manuherikia RiverThe town lends its name to the St Bathans fauna a rich palaeontological section of the lower Bannockburn Formation of the Manuherikia Group with an age range of 19 16 million years ago The layer in which the fossils are found derives from littoral zone sediments deposited in a large shallow freshwater lake bordered by an extensive floodplains 7 The fossiliferous layer has been exposed at places along the Manuherikia River close to the town and is the remnant of the prehistoric Lake Manuherikia St Bathans mammal edit Main article Saint Bathans mammal In 2006 scientists reported the finding of nontherian mammal fossils in the Manuherikia Group near St Bathans Previously it had been thought that bats were the only terrestrial mammals native to New Zealand Dubbed the SB mammal for St Bathans the scientists analysis indicates that the creature has a lineage distinct from monotremes egg laying mammals eutherians placental mammals and metatherians marsupials 8 Other taxa edit Main article St Bathans fauna The St Bathans formation also bears fossils of moa mekosuchine crocodiles turtles skinks tuatara geckoes at least eight taxa of waterfowl including the endemic Miotadorna and Manuherikia a petrel Accipitriformes rails a possible seagull herons a palaelodid flamingo pigeons parrots a swift an owlet nightjar songbirds the enigmatic Aptornis and a primitive kiwi Proapteryx 9 nbsp Road to Saint Bathans nbsp Old gold buying office of the Bank of New South Wales St Bathans Central Otago nbsp Former Post Office nbsp St Patrick s Church nbsp Former Vulcan Hotel Billiards Room and Stables nbsp Blue LakeReferences edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint Bathans Reed A W 1975 Place names of New Zealand Wellington A H amp A W Reed p 371 St Bathans Central Otago New Zealand www newzealand com Retrieved 2022 07 31 The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand The Vulcan Hotel Saint Bathans New Zealand Heritage List Rarangi Kōrero Heritage New Zealand TVNZ One News The Ghost of St Bathans New Zealand Ghosts St Bathans Archived 2014 04 05 at the Wayback Machine Worthy TH Tennyson AJD Jones C McNamara JA Douglas BJ 2007 Miocene waterfowl and other birds from central Otago New Zealand PDF Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 5 1 1 39 Bibcode 2007JSPal 5 1W doi 10 1017 S1477201906001957 hdl 2440 43360 S2CID 85230857 Trevor H Worthy et al 2006 12 19 Miocene mammal reveals a Mesozoic ghost lineage on insular New Zealand southwest Pacific PNAS Retrieved 2007 08 23 Worthy et al 2013 44 52 10 S 169 48 30 E 44 86944 S 169 80833 E 44 86944 169 80833 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Saint Bathans amp oldid 1217028246 Vulcan Hotel, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
