1886: Butler’s Wall

February 28, 2025

By AHNZ

Some Arrowtown people are rather proactive about their old stone wall to the point of wanting to, essentially, pay an extra $2,000,000 in tax to speed up its restoration! Built by Peter Henderson in 1886 for £225 it has had little or no maintenance in these past 139 years.

Apparently it needs fixing all of a sudden. The Queenstown Lakes District Council has allocated $1,8000 to do this in 2030 although they think the cost will be $2 millions. And that’s re-using the stone in the wall already quarried and cut and placed. According to the RBNZ inflation calculator building the thing from scratch would cost only $55,864 in today’s money.

Mind you, according to unconfirmed rumours, Mr Henderson might have accessed cheap Chinese labour to build his wall.

Butler’s Wall is named for Butler’s Green which is the park under Buckingham Street, Arrowtown. William and Mary Butler were the first family¹ to arrive at Arrow Gorge in the early days of the 1860s gold rush to this area. At first it was just a tent town. The Butlers became storekeepers and, later hoteliers. By 1886 Mr Butler served on the Arrow Borough Council along with a number of other middle-aged men. The description of their work and generation living at Reefton, another goldfield, applies: “These men have lived a life that only those of iron nerves and mighty constitution could live and only those of wild adventurous spirit would live; grey-haired, grey bearded they are now, for they were the men who pioneered..” Ref. 1888: Reefton’s Electric Christmas, AHNZ

Having seen the work done, William himself would die in 1887. The wall (along with a nice gravestone) is partly a memorial to his family.

“The detailed newspaper reports reveal a group of councillors, probably mainly aged in their fifties, who had taken part in the establishing of the town and all its institutions in the previous 25 years. When we see photos of them posed impassively in their dark suits with faces obscured by bushy beards, it’s hard to gain a sense of their personalities and their qualities.” – Marion Borrell, THE QUEENSTOWN COURIER v109 (2023)

“William and Mary Butler with their baby and little son Kingsley were the first family to arrive, and William was the first storekeeper. He set up his canvas shop selling such necessities as flour carted all the way from Dunedin. William soon took over the Prince of Wales Hotel and later built the Ballarat Hotel on the corner where the Arrow Bakery is now” – ibid

“A $2 million fundraising campaign has been launched to save the Whakatipu’s most historic wall from tumbling down. Arrowtown’s Category 3-listed Butler’s Wall, overlooking Butler’s Green, was built in 1886 to retain the road leading to another former goldmining settlement, Macetown…The council estimated repairs would cost about $2m, and allocated $1.8m in its long-term plan in years 2029-31, towards restoration. However, Arrowtown Charitable Trust chairwoman Amanda Viana believes it is in desperate need of repair now, and also does not want to wait while costs continue to rise.” – ODT (28/2/2025)

So repairs are scheduled to occur in just 4 years. Not good enough for Arrowtown Charitable Trust! They’ve started fundraising right now to fix the wall with voluntary contributions rather than just wait. Who doe a thing like that?

Unless Nick Fifield and Amanda Viana here are Libertarians or something (most unlikely) this behavior seems rather odd. Wouldn’t they rather put money and time into a brighter Matariki? Or injuncting Ronald McDonald from starting a restaurant as the Wanaka folks did? It’s mildly suspicious.

The citizen receiving rates bills such as the above must turn to The State in order to create and maintain all the above services. The way to get things done is not with your spade and your ingenuity, the way to get things done is by winging to The State. Petitions, letter-writing, talk-back radio rants, ballot boxes, phone calls. The means of production shift from active to passive. Successful change in one’s environment comes from the power to manipulate and influence a third party who can get things done; You cannot. Ref. How Government Grows Victimhood Culture, NZB3 (2019)

Surely some other agenda must be at play here with Butler’s Wall. Ratepayers generally have had all the civic energy taxed out of them and don’t try to take on public works themselves. Not when they have already paid for the thing they want. Not when it’s someone else’s job. Not when it has already been budgeted for and set to go ahead! There must be some other angle here not being reported upon. Perhaps Fifield and Viana are running for local office? Or, there’s some concern that Government isn’t going to fix the wall their way? They own a stone quarry? Perhaps we’ll find out later.

—
1 According to Marion Borrell (2023) and the public display panel. But writing in 2012 Borrell said “One of the first families in the Arrow was that of William Butler after whom Butler Green is named.” so she’s become more certain over the years.

Update 4/3/2025: AHNZ: Nick, the Council is taking your money to do this in 4 years or so. Explain why you want to donate $2,000,000 to save them the cost? You think maybe it’ll be done faster that way?

Reply: Hi Rick, a few factors, the money required is flagged as a line item but not budgeted or allocated. $2m is a guesstimate, a full heritage restoration has not been costed. Alternatives would see the wall concreted over or behind a steel cage, which we would like to avoid. Council previously had $600k earmarked in the long term plan but this was later removed and costs have escalated considerably, so funding is not guaranteed. The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness of the need for restoration, as well as highlight the history of the wall, of which many are unaware. We’d like to show willing from the community to contribute and support any funds provided by council and potentially find someone wanting to contribute significantly to the cause. There are many things our district is in need of, $2m is unlikely to be prioritised for heritage restoration, as occurred previously. We currently have about $40 in the account, so there’s a way to go! Ref. Arrowtown Audio Tour, Facebook

Like    Comment     Share