Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Middlemarch

Middlemarch is a rising township on the Strath-Taieri plain, forty-eight miles north-west from Dunedin, on the Otago Central railway. For some time it was the terminal station on this line, but the pushing onward of the railway has not retarded the progress of the township, as it is the natural centre of a large out-lying district. Standing 650 feet above sea level, Middlemarch possesses a dry climate, and is rapidly becoming a favourite health resort. The summer seasons are warm, but not enervating, and the winters cold, but dry. The winter of 1903 will long be remembered as an exceptionally cold season; the temperature registered at Middlemarch on the 17th of July of that year was thirteen degrees below zero. Three religious denomination;—Presbyterian, Catholic, and Anglican—have erected places of worship, and periodical services are held in each. At the railway station there is a post, telegraph, and money order office; and a telephone bureau—connecting with Dunedin—is sure to be established in the near future. The public school is a substantial building, with a large number of scholars on the roll. The township has also two hotels, a public hall, stores, and a creamery. The establishment of the creamery gave an impetus to the dairying industry, and has greatly advanced the prosperity of the settlement. Strath-Taieri is a narrow plain, twenty miles in length, and a worderfully fertile agricultural area. It is well watered by a large number of streamlets that flow from the Rock and Pillar Range on the west, to the Taieri river on the eastern boundary. In this respect it has an equal advantage with North Canterbury—where an artificial water-race system is in vogue—inasmuch as there is scarcely page 596 a paddock on the plain that is not watered. The average annual rainfall is from twenty-seven to thirty inches. Hares, pigeons, ducks, and rabbits abound in the district; and trout in the many streams. The governing body of Strath-Taieri is the Taieri County Council, which deserves to be complimented on the good state of the well-formed roads throughout the district. An agricultural and pastoral association has been formed, and successful annual shows are held at Middlemarch at Easter time.