Cromwell, New Zealand
Encyclopedia
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in Central Otago
Central Otago
Central Otago is the inland part of the New Zealand region of Otago in the South Island. The area commonly known as Central Otago includes both the Central Otago District and the Queenstown-Lakes District to the west....
in the Otago
Otago
Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...
region of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
It is situated between State Highway 6 (linking to Wanaka
Wanaka
Wanaka is a town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is situated at the southern end of Lake Wanaka, adjacent to the outflow of the lake to the Clutha River. It is the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park. Wanaka is primarily a resort town but has both summer and winter...
, 50 km north, and Queenstown
Queenstown, New Zealand
Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes, and has spectacular views of nearby mountains....
, 60 km west) and State Highway 8 leading to the Lindis Pass
Lindis Pass
Lindis Pass is located in the South Island of New Zealand.It lies between the towns of Cromwell in Central Otago and Omarama in North Otago, on the main inland route to the Mackenzie Basin in Canterbury....
, 75 km northeast, and Alexandra
Alexandra, New Zealand
Alexandra is a town in the Central Otago district of the Otago region of New Zealand. It is located on the banks of the Clutha River , on State Highway 8, 188 km by road from Dunedin and 33 km south of Cromwell.At the time of the 2006 census, the permanent population was 4,827, an...
, 33 km south. The road to Alexandra winds through the Cromwell Gorge
Cromwell Gorge
The Cromwell Gorge is a deep gorge on the Clutha River in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. It stretches for 20 km south of the town of Cromwell towards Alexandra....
. A point near Cromwell lies 119 kilometres from the sea, the farthest from the sea anywhere in New Zealand.
Nearby settlements are at Bannockburn
Bannockburn, New Zealand
Bannockburn is a small historic gold mining town located outside of Cromwell in Central Otago, New Zealand.The area was first made known as a rich alluvial gold field and was mined extensively in the 1860s....
, Lowburn, Tarras, and Ripponvale.
Cromwell is also the home of the Cromwell Chafer Beetle (Prodontria lewisi
Prodontria lewisi
Prodontria lewisi is a species of beetle in family Scarabaeidae. It is endemic to New Zealand.-Description:...
).
History
Cromwell was originally known as "The Junction", being at the confluence of the Clutha and Kawarau Rivers. In 1862, gold was discovered below the Junction by two miners, Hartley and Reilly. Once the word of a gold strike was out, there was an influx of several thousand miners to the area.As gold ran out, Cromwell became the service centre for an extensive farming and stone fruit growing area. It has a strategic location between the Lindis and the Haast Pass, and acts as a hub between the towns of Wanaka, Queenstown and Alexandra. The former is commemorated with the giant sculpture of stone fruit which stands outside the northern end of the town.
Cromwell lay at the confluence of the Clutha River
Clutha River
The Clutha River / Mata-Au is the second longest river in New Zealand flowing south-southeast through Central and South Otago from Lake Wanaka in the Southern Alps to the Pacific Ocean, south west of Dunedin. It is the highest volume river in New Zealand, and the swiftest, with a catchment of ,...
and Kawarau River
Kawarau River
Kawarau River drains Lake Wakatipu, in northwestern Otago, New Zealand. The river flows generally eastwards for about 60 km and passes through the steep Kawarau Gorge until it joins Lake Dunstan near Cromwell. The Shotover River enters it from the north; the Nevis River enters it from the south...
, which was noted for the difference between the colours of the waters of the two rivers and also for the historic bridge at the convergence of the two. Since the construction of the Clyde Dam
Clyde Dam
The Clyde Dam, New Zealand's third largest hydroelectric dam, is built on the Clutha River near the town of Clyde. It is owned and operated by Contact Energy.-History:...
and the filling of Lake Dunstan
Lake Dunstan
Lake Dunstan is a man-made lake and reservoir in the South Island of New Zealand.The lake was formed on the Clutha River as a result of the construction of the Clyde Dam, filling in four controlled stages beginning in April 1992 and completed the next year...
in the early 1990s the river confluence was drowned, as was the old town centre.
The decision to build Clyde Dam and use Cromwell as the accommodation base brought many changes to the town. Approximately one-third of the town was rebuilt on higher ground. The changes included the doubling of the residential area, relocation of the old town centre (now called "Old Cromwell Town"), upgrading of services, and the provision of modern educational and sports facilities, and a new bridge. The relocated town centre, or "The Mall," now houses the main retail, service and civic buildings in Cromwell. Several of the old buildings of the town which escaped the flooding have been retained as a historic precinct close to the shore of the Kawarau.
The town was named after Oliver Cromwell and, as well as "The Junction", the town was previously known as "The Point" and "Kawarau".
The future of Cromwell is in farming, horticulture, viticulture, and tourism. Cromwell is nicknamed the "Fruit Bowl of the South".
Education
Cromwell has five pre-school facilities, two primary schools and a co- educational secondary school. An Otago Polytechnic campus specialises in horticulture, catering and tourism. Its crop centre provides advisory services to horticulturalists on commercially-viable new crops.Central Otago climate
Central Otago is a land of extremes: it is the coldest, driest part of New Zealand. The seasons are sharply defined: summers are hot and low in humidity; winter mornings are often misty, the days cloudless and windless and the nights freezing. Alexandra, for example, has the lowest average annual rainfall (340mm) recorded anywhere in New Zealand, is the least windy and has 148 frosts annually (only Lake Tekapo, with 149, has more). Ophir, 27 km away, holds the record for the lowest air temperature recorded - minus 21.6 deg C in mid-1995 - but it also held the highest reading (35.2 deg C in 1959) until 42.4 deg C was recorded at Rangiora, in Canterbury in 1973.Spring warms the soil and fruit tree blossom dominates the district’s orchard areas. Temperatures range from minus 3 to 20 deg C, with 10 frosts a month. Average rainfall is 28mm a month and sunshine 206 hours.
In summer, daylight lasts as long as 10pm. Temperatures range from 10 to plus 30 deg C on several days. Rainfall averages 38mm a month and sunshine is 227 hours.
Autumn is brilliant as the extensive orchards and poplar shelterbelts turn red, yellow and gold. Temperatures range from minus 3 to 24 deg C. Rainfall averages 30mm a month with 11 frosts monthly and 150 hours of sunshine.
Winter brings a temperature range of minus 6 to 15 deg C, and average monthly rainfall of 15mm, 25 days frosts and 107 hours of sunshine per month during the short days.
Cromwell Mayors
Former mayors of the Borough of Cromwell were as follows- WJ Barry 1866-1868
- W Whetter 1868-1869
- GW Goodger 1869-1870
- W Smitham 1870-1871
- JD Taylor 1871-1872
- M Fraer 1872-1873
- J Dawkins 1873-1874
- DA Jolly 1874-1877
- SN Brown 1877-1878
- C Colclough 1878-1881
- M Behrens 1881-1883
- J Marsh 1883-1885
- SH Turton 1885-1889
- T McCracken 1889-1891
- DA Jolly 1891-1892
- JL Scott 1892-1895
- T Rooney 1895-1897
- K Pretsch 1897-1899
- E Murrell 1899-1905
- J Little 1905-1909
- E Murrell 1905-1913
- E Jolly 1913-1915
- AM Brodrick 1915-1921
- DC Jolly 1921-1927
- CC Sanders 1927-1929
- CWJ Roberts 1929-1937
- JC Parcell 1937-1943
- RE Austin 1943-1944
- W Partridge 1944-1950
- JR Munro 1950-1951
- FG Dunn 1951-1956
- LR Skinner 1956-1958
- LA Jelley 1958-1960
- IG Anderson 1960-1980
- PJ Mead 1980-1986
- DA Butcher 1986-1989