Tunnel Diggers

Lore & Background

During the West Coast gold rush, prospector James Edwin Gillespie was returning with other miners from a gold-rush hoax at Bruce Bay, and discovered gold in the black sands above the high tide mark here in April 1866. Other prospectors soon took up claims in the area, and within a month miners were making profits of £5 to £6 a week. Gillespies Beach grew rapidly, and by May 1866 had a population of 600, and had two butcheries, two bakeries and 11 stores (mostly public houses).

Supplies were carried along the beach by pack horse from Ōkārito. At its height, Gillespies Beach was the third-largest settlement on the West Coast: only Ōkārito and Five Mile were larger—the Okarito Gold Warden reported 500 miners working the sands. By September, the population in the area was decreasing as best surface gold was taken, and in November 1866, there were around 150 people living in the area, with six stores. By 1867 a gold rush at Haast reduced the community to 50 miners, supplied by a butcher, a bakery and three stores. By 1869 the Gold Warden's report stated the estimated population was just 30.

Reader's Guide

The difficulties of working claims at Gillespies Beach included a hazardous journey of 20 mi (32 km) to the nearest port at Ōkārito, requiring travel along the sea coast beneath dangerous bluffs. There were no roads, no medical care – the nearest doctor was at Ross, 80 miles to the north – and supplies often cost double the Ōkārito price. If rivers rose after heavy rain, it could delay stores arriving by weeks. Miners built a tunnel through Gillespies Point at the north of the beach, to avoid the bluffs and enable passage along the coast even at high tide.

Inhabitants were confined to the coastal strip by dense forest and suffered under heavy rain, westerly gales, and clouds of sandflies and mosquitoes. By the 1890s, the few inhabitants were raising horses, sheep, and a few dairy cows, and bringing in cattle for slaughter along the beaches. Occasional mail was brought in 80 miles from Hokitika by horse. Harper was scathing about the settlement: 'Gillespies Beach was a so-called "township", a pub and two stores, perched just behind the top of the beach, amongst the sandhills—the most god-forsaken place imaginable.'

Gillespies Beach after its heyday was described by Douglas as 'never even a paper township, but entirely a digging one, and has supported a fluctuating population for many years. It passed the calico era, and almost attained to the dignity of the weatherboard, but not quite. It now contains a few diggers huts, a store & school house, with of course the usual pub, but its life cannot last long as the beach is nearly worked out. It has however lasted longer than any of the diggers Townships of Southern Westland, and contains a chapel – still standing – a building none of the others ever possessed.'

Did You Know?

• A new type of mineral was identified in the sand at Gillespies Beach in the 1950s by the mineralogist Colin Osborne Hutton (1910–1971). The mineral was given the name Huttonite and Gillespies Beach is the type locality.
• In July 1866, it was reported that 11,000 ounces (310 kg) of gold had been shipped during the month of June.
• Because many of the miners were Roman Catholic, a small church was built, and a priest would visit from Ross at six-monthly intervals to conduct baptisms and weddings; funerals were conducted by members of the community.
• In 1944 there was a demand for radioactive materials for the war effort, and the dredge sands were tested for uranium, but although there was some radioactivity the concentration was not sufficient for recovery to be economic.