Little-known historic Canterbury gem.

One day, as I was driving through the Canterbury Plains, the last thing I expected to see pop up out of nowhere was a historic cottage made of ... concrete.

It is in a style reminiscent of structures in France and Britain so naturally it caught my eye, standing out, as it does, on the flat Canterbury Plains. Along with two other structures in the area, it is one of only 3 buildings that remain of the Barrhill Estate. It was built by Scottish immigrant John Wason in the 1870s as the gatekeeper's lodge. The gatekeeper was responsible for opening the gates to the Corwar estate, and conducting visitors to the mansion.

Corwar Lodge is a small building of around 45 square metres, constructed of concrete and with a hipped slate roof. It has four rooms and a central chimney. The walls are 30cm thick which must have given good insulation. 

There is only one external door which leads straight into the living room, then into a small pantry on the left and a small bedroom to the right. Through that there is another small room. The internal ceilings are all tongue and groove timber. The internal layout remains original.

It was shut up the day I saw it so all I could do was peek through the windows. It needs cleaning and dusting but does give an idea of what everyday life was like for a gatekeeper of those times.

Wason's Corwar mansion/homestead was built on the south bank of the Rakaia River. He wanted a British-style estate, acting as a squire, so he built a mini village called Barrhill and planted oaks, limes, walnuts and poplars.

Barrhill Village was at first quite prosperous comprising of the Church, school, schoolhouse, a bakery, blacksmith, post office, boiling works (for mutton), store, inn and about 15 cottages. When the railway bypassed Barrhill in the 1890s, the village started to decline and Wason sold up in 1900 and moved back to Scotland. Not long after that his mansion burned down.

The small lodge fell into disrepair over the war years. Restoration was completed in 1972 and it led to the formation of the Barrhill Corwar Lodge Preservation Society. It is now the responsibility of the Ashburton District Council and can be visited on request. If you are heading to Rakia this may be worth a visit.