Duntroon (from gd, Dùn Treòin) is a small farming-town in the

Waitaki District Waitaki District is a territorial authority district that is located in the Canterbury and Otago regions of the South Island of New Zealand. It straddles the traditional border between the two regions, the Waitaki River, and its seat is Oamaru. ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. Although traditionally considered a

North Otago North Otago in New Zealand covers the area of Otago between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre for astronomy and for glid ...

town, it is located within the farthest southern reaches of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

. Just north of the town runs the

Waitaki River The Waitaki River is a large braided river that drains the Mackenzie Basin and runs some south-east to enter the Pacific Ocean between Timaru and Oamaru on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It starts at the confluence of the � ...

, which forms the traditional border between the two regions, although the official border has moved south to put most of Waitaki District within Canterbury, including Duntroon. To the east of the village runs the

Maerewhenua River The Maerewhenua River, also known as the Marewhenua River, is a small river in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. It is located in North Otago and acts as a tributary of the Waitaki River, which forms the border between Otago and C ...

. Near the village are the Earthquakes, a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

formation. Duntroon Anglican Church 003

The town was named by Scottish settler and farmer Robert Campbell. Economic activity has been mainly agricultural for much of the town's history, focusing primarily on

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

farming and on the growing of crops such as

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

and

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

. Duntroon is home to the Vanished World Heritage Centre, dedicated to showcasing the geology of the Waitaki region and preserving

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s of extinct species that have been found in the region. These include two species of the

penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

'' Archaeospheniscus'', Lowe's penguin and Lopdell's penguin, found in the Kokoamu Greensand formation. The town is also located near two sites of centuries-old

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

rock drawings, one of which being the Takiroa Rock Art Shelter. south of Duntroon, in the Maerewhenua Valley, a group of large rock-formations called " Elephant Rocks" was used as a filming location for the first ''Chronicles of Narnia'' movie in 2005. The rock formations, located in a private field, are visible from the road.

Transport

Duntroon was once the terminus of the

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industr ...

railway that ultimately became the

Kurow Branch The Kurow Branch (also known as the Hakataramea Branch) was part of New Zealand's national rail network. In the North Otago region of the South Island, it was built in the 1870s to open up the land behind Oamaru for development, and closed in ...

, and was one of the few towns to be served by a railway station for the entire life of the line (most others were closed earlier than the line itself). In 1875, the railway from the junction with the

Main South Line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inverca ...

Pukeuri Pukeuri is a settlement to the north of Oamaru in the North Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. It is located near the coast in the Waitaki District that straddles the border of Otago and Canterbury. The settlement's major employer i ...

was opened to Duntroon, but due to bridging difficulties, the line terminated outside Duntroon on the east side of the Maerewhenua River. In 1878, construction began on another line from Duntroon to

Kurow Kurow is a small town in the Waitaki District, New Zealand. It is located on the south bank of the Waitaki River, northwest of Oamaru. Description The name is an Anglicised form of the Māori name of the nearby mountain, Te Kohurau. In the ...

; on 2 July 1881, the Maerewhenua River was bridged and Duntroon was linked to the national railway network; on 7 November 1881, the line beyond Duntroon opened and the town lost its status as terminus. The railway served the town for over a century, closing in mid-1983, and the old railway station now serves as boutique accommodation for fly fishermen and cyclists on the A2O cycle trail. Near the station building, an old

water tank A water tank is a container for storing water. Water tanks are used to provide storage of water for use in many applications, drinking water, irrigation agriculture, fire suppression, agricultural farming, both for plants and livestock, chemi ...

for

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s still stands in good condition. Duntroon is on the route of the Alps to Ocean Cycle Trail, which was constructed from 2011 after approval in 2010.

Demographics

Duntroon is described as a rural settlement by Statistics New Zealand, and covers . It is part of the larger Danseys Pass statistical area. Duntroon had a population of 96 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 21 people (28.0%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 3 people (-3.0%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 39 households. There were 51 males and 45 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.13 males per female. The median age was 46.0 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 18 people (18.8%) aged under 15 years, 18 (18.8%) aged 15 to 29, 48 (50.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 15 (15.6%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 93.8% European/Pākehā, 6.2% Māori, and 6.2% Asian (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). Although some people objected to giving their religion, 50.0% had no religion, 34.4% were Christian and 6.2% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 6 (7.7%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 24 (30.8%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $22,200, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 36 (46.2%) people were employed full-time, 15 (19.2%) were part-time, and 3 (3.8%) were unemployed.

Education

Duntroon School is a full primary school catering for years 1 to 8, with a roll of students as of The school opened in 1879.

References

External links

Vanished World Centre website

Visitor's Guide to the Beautiful Waitaki – Duntroon

Nicol's Blacksmith Historic Trust website
{{Waitaki District, New Zealand Populated places in Canterbury, New Zealand Waitaki District