Becks is a small settlement in the

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

Region of the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 85, some north-east of

Omakau Omakau (sometimes spelled Ōmakau) is a settlement in Central Otago, New Zealand, located between Alexandra and Ranfurly on the northwest bank of the Manuherikia River. The smaller settlement of Ophir is located on the opposite bank, three kilo ...

, and just west of where the State Highway crosses the

Manuherikia River The Manuherikia River is located in Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. It rises in the far north of the Maniototo, with the West Branch draining the eastern side of the St Bathans Range, and the East Branch draining the western flanks of ...

. It lies on the

45th parallel south Following are circles of latitude between the 40th parallel south and the 45th parallel south: 41st parallel south The 41st parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 41 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses the Atlanti ...

. The former White Horse Hotel in Becks was established in 1864 by John Nixon Becks, and is registered by

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of Archaeology of New Zealand, ancest ...

as a Category II heritage building. The township was originally called White Horse, after the public house, but the name was later changed to that of the publican.Becks
, at ''nzhistory.net''. Retrieved 7 April 2015.

References

Populated places in Otago {{Otago-geo-stub