What does the Park offer?
You drive in under an avenue of English trees to reach the historical buildings on the right, and a rhododendron and a camellia garden on the left. Beyond that on level ground is an abundance of picnic sites where you can choose sun or shade. There are a newly developed adventure playground, a shallow stream where children can play in the water in safety, and large grassy areas for playing games.

Children enjoy the adventure playground. Photo source Orton Bradley Park

The Big Rock on the left with Mt Herbert in the distance on the right Photo source Rieko Ogawa

Visitors who have climbed the Big Rock wave to friends below. Photo source Peter Hunt

A brief history of the area
A valuable reference book
For a full history of the Park there is an excellent book "Orton Bradley Park: a History" researched and written by Karen Gregory-Hunt and edited by John Wilson. It was published in 1986 as a Lands and Survey Field Book, Old Series 319 1858-1860. Unfortunately the book is out of print but can be consulted at the information centre in the park. Much of the information on the history of the park in these articles is drawn from this valuable source.

The early years
Very few Maori were living in the Lyttelton Harbour area when the first Europeans settled there. Lyttelton Harbour (then known as Port Cooper) had been used by sealers and whalers from the early 1820s.

The first permanent settlers in Charteris Bay were Dr Thomas Moore and his wife and family who built a stone cottage on the farm in 1852. He stayed seven years and combined working as a doctor in Lyttelton and developing a fine dairy herd.

The Rev. Reginald Robert Bradley buys the property.
When he left he sold much of his land to the Rev. Reginald Robert Bradley. At that time Bradley was vicar at the small settlement of Papanui, north of Christchurch, and was also running a small farm there. In 1858 he gained permission from Bishop Selwyn to leave the parish. He took up farming in Charteris Bay and was appointed to the parish of Purau and Governors Bay. There was no church in the bays and he frequently took services in the schoolhouse at Charteris Bay and in a house at Purau. He had to ride to his parishioners or go by boat. Even though he travelled by boat at times in atrocious weather he had no mishaps.

Eventually he became so interested in farming that he gave up his work for the church. He remained there for thirty three years until his death in 1892. During those years he managed to purchase additional blocks of land. He continued to develop the dairy herd and sold dairy products and later processed meat for the Lyttelton market. Like most other pioneers he diversified the farm production and also planted large orchards and vegetable gardens. With a family of nine children the home consumption must have used a good deal of the produce, but the fruit and vegetables proved to be a useful cash crop.

Industries in the park
The flax mill
Flax fibre was in great demand for ropes in the era of sailing vessels. New Zealand flax ropes were held in great esteem and ships often took the risk of waiting until they reached this country to replace worn ropes.

A flax mill was established in 1870 on the Bradley property where there was then an abundant supply of flax. They must have harvested it very thoroughly because when I tried to find a flax bush to show a Japanese visitor we saw none between the picnic ground and the Big Rock. All that remains now of the mill is a large stone known as the Flaxmill Stone in the middle of the cocksfoot paddock.

The mill would have held great interest for the Rev. Reginald Bradley's son Orton who was thirteen when it opened. It needed specialised machinery and a constant water supply with a strong jet to wash the flax. The hydraulic system had to take water from the creek and return it there, probably by a dam and flume system.

As steamships gradually replaced sailing vessels the demand for ropes was reduced and by 1890 the flax mill was closed.

The quarry
This was first used in 1869 and was later developed commercially by Orton Bradley. Again in this project hydraulic engineering was important. Karen Gregory-Hunt's history of the park states:
"Water was pumped by an old fire-engine from the creek to the quarry to sluice clay off the stone. A settling pond was dug to take run-off from the quarry to prevent contamination of the creek."

Footnotes to page 24 state that the fire engine is now at Ferrymead Historic Park, and that the pond was inadequate and contamination of the creek was one of the major problems associated with the quarry.

The stone which is cemented marine quartz sand, deposited some sixty million years ago, was suitable for building. One of the best examples of its use is St Martin's Anglican Church in Lincoln Road, Christchurch (not in the suburb of St Martins.)

The quarry was closed temporarily, but there is so much interest in the stone that there are plans to re-open the quarry soon for commercial use.

Orton Bradley takes over the property in 1892.
On the death of his father the oldest son, Orton, the oldest son, took over the property. One brother and one sister died in childhood, but most of the family remained on the property, partly because all but Orton were born deaf.

Orton was more interested in science than in farming. He leased much of the property in small blocks for dairy farming and market gardening. He did not marry and devoted his life to science and technology. This led to a range of interests - breeding racehorses, brewing, geology, ecology, horticulture and engineering. He was actively involved in the work of local bodies in the area. He was responsible for extensive plantings of trees not only on his own property, but as far away as Lyttelton and Akaroa. He donated plants for reserves in areas all over Banks Peninsula.

Engineering work
Orton Bradley devised a system using water power to drive a generator which provided power for the house and the workshop.

Visitors can still see the mill race which is nearly 1 metre deep. To be sufficient to propel the mill wheel the flow of water needs to be 0.3 cubic metres per second. A storage pond was built to guarantee a continuous flow of water to the mill in dry periods when the water level in the stream became too low. The water in the pond was controlled by a plug which could be operated by a wire at the back of the mill. The plug was raised and lowered by the screw drive. The water from the race drove the water wheel and was returned to the stream or used for irrigation.

The waterwheel at work Photo source Peter Hunt

The first generator was used from the early days of electric power in the 1880s or 1890s. It is a 1.3 kilowatt Crompton machine.

The second generator, a 5 kilowatt Velocetti, was installed in 1922 and used to light the house, the yards, the outbuildings and the drive. A lever in the box room in the house controlled the supply of electricity. The lever was attached to a wire which was connected to the flume gate.

The restored system can still be seen at work. See part 2 of this article.

Death of Orton Bradley
In 1943 Orton Bradley died at the age of eighty six. He left his entire estate in trust to be used eventually as "a national park for the benefit and enjoyment of the New Zealand people".

He left annuities for his surviving sisters and two nephews who lived and worked on the property. They were allowed to remain in the homestead until they died.

Check Part 2 to read about Orton Bradley Park since the death of its founder.