Homebush is a settlement in the

Canterbury region Canterbury () is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current form was estab ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It has had a long association with the pioneering

Deans Deans may refer to: People * Austen Deans (1915–2011), New Zealand painter and war artist; grandfather of Julia Deans * Bob Deans (1884–1908), New Zealand rugby union player; grandson of John and Jane Deans * Bruce Deans (1960–2019), New Zeal ...

family.

History

Due to the area's surrounding industry, Homebush was connected to the

Whitecliffs Branch The Whitecliffs Branch was an long branch line railway that formed part of New Zealand's Rail transport in New Zealand, national rail network in the Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury region of the South Island. It was more industrial than the ...

, which operated from 1875 until 1962. The railway station (built in 1875) was located on Yeomans Road. The building is now located in Darfield at the branch's memorial site.

2010 Canterbury earthquake

The historic

Homebush Homestead Homebush Homestead was an historic home in Homebush, New Zealand, belonging to the early pioneering Deans family. The homestead was severely damaged during the 2010 Canterbury earthquake. It was demolished soon after. It has since been replaced ...

owned by the Deans family was destroyed during the

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

. It was rebuilt four years later.

Film

Homebush's forests (located in the homestead gardens) were used as a filming location for the 2005

Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, the series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia, a ...

film, ''

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' is a portal fantasy novel written by British author C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1950. It is the first published and best known of seven novels in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956 ...

.''

Landmarks

A number of historic farms buildings are located around Homebush. These building were primarily used for use by the Homebush Station. These include: * The

water turbine A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work. Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now, t ...

, which was constructed in 1880 and incorporated into its own room in the stables, was used to drive farm machinery such as saw bench,

chaff cutter A chaff cutter is a mechanical device for cutting straw or hay into small pieces before being mixed together with other forage and fed to horses and cattle. This aids the animal's digestion and prevents animals from rejecting any part of their ...

, wheat mill, whetstone, and seed dresser. A underground brick tunnel was built to bring water from the dammed up

Waianiwaniwa River The Waianiwaniwa River (Waireka) is a river in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand. Location The source is in the Wyndale Hills, which are foothills of the Southern Alps. The Waianiwaniwa River is a tributary of the Selwyn R ...

down to a circular brick well in which the turbine sits. Another tunnel was also built. This tunnel, approximately in length, drained the water away. The turbine is thought to be the only one of its type in New Zealand and may be the only one in the world. A water tower was built outside the entrance to the turbine room and still stands. * The stables are located south of the homestead. * The brick

woolshed Shearing sheds (or wool sheds) are large sheds located on sheep stations to accommodate large scale sheep shearing activities. In countries where large numbers of sheep are kept for wool, sometimes many thousands in a flock, shearing sheds ar ...

, as well as the shearers' quarters (brick house to the north of the shed) can be seen from the

main road A "main road" may refer to: * A major road in a town or village, or in a country area. * A highway * A trunk road, especially in British English Main Road may refer to: * Main Road, Hobart, Australia * Main Road, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh * Main ...

at the intersection of Deans Road and Bangor/Homebush Road.

Footnotes

References

Selwyn District Populated places in the Canterbury Region {{CanterburyNZ-geo-stub