The Thames School of Mines

The Thames (Kauaeranga) School of Mines is of great spiritual, cultural and archaeological importance. Situated on historical land, the School is on Urupa (meaning Maori Burial Site); Tapu land that was gifted to the Wesleyan Missionary Society (Methodist). Not long after receiving this generous gift the Society built a church and a Sunday School in 1869. By 1886 the School of Mines was operating, and by 1901 the Mineralogical Museum (a museum depicting a gold-mining town), while displaying the early years of science, teaching, technology, rocks, fossils, metallurgical specimens, and mining paraphernalia was in use. Once one of at least 30 mining schools in the country, by 1954 the school had closed and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust obtained possession of the complex along with its learning structures in 1979. The School and Museum’s preservation and authenticity are features preserved for the enjoyment of its many visitors. There are only two of these museums left in existence, The Thames and the Reefton, located on the West Coast of the South Island.