Saint Bathans, New Zealand
Encyclopedia
The former gold
and coal
mining town of St Bathans, formerly named Dunstan Creek, lies deep in the heart of the Maniototo
in New Zealand
's Otago
region. Mining has long ceased, and it is a tranquil holiday retreat. The preservation of many of its historic buildings makes it one of the region's more picturesque tourist venues. St Bathans is well known for its scenic man-made lake with beautiful looking clay cliffs that attract many tourists. It is currently a camping spot, and you are allowed to swim in the waters.
It is 40 kilometres northwest of Ranfurly
and 60 kilometres northeast of Alexandra
, near Dunstan Creek, beneath the St Bathans Range and Dunstan mountains. It takes its name from Abbey St Bathans
in Berwickshire
in the Scottish Borders
.
Prominent features include the historic Vulcan Hotel, a restored and reputedly haunted
public house; and the Blue Lake
, a small lake formed during gold-sluicing
, which gives it a distinctive turquoise colour.
The area attracts many visitors intent on gold-prospecting
.
mammal
fossils in the Manuherikia Group near Saint Bathans. Previously it had been thought that bat
s were the only terrestrial mammals native to New Zealand. Dubbed the SB mammal (for Saint Bathans), the scientists' analysis indicates that the creature has a lineage distinct from monotremes (egg-laying mammals), eutheria
ns (placental mammals) and metatheria
ns (marsupial
s).
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
and coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
mining town of St Bathans, formerly named Dunstan Creek, lies deep in the heart of the Maniototo
Maniototo
The Maniototo Plain, usually simply known as The Maniototo, is an elevated inland region in Otago, New Zealand. The region roughly surrounds the upper reaches of the Taieri River and the Manuherikia River. It is bounded by the Kakanui Range to the north and the Rock and Pillar Range to the southeast...
in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's Otago
Otago
Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...
region. Mining has long ceased, and it is a tranquil holiday retreat. The preservation of many of its historic buildings makes it one of the region's more picturesque tourist venues. St Bathans is well known for its scenic man-made lake with beautiful looking clay cliffs that attract many tourists. It is currently a camping spot, and you are allowed to swim in the waters.
It is 40 kilometres northwest of Ranfurly
Ranfurly, New Zealand
Ranfurly is the largest settlement in the Maniototo district of Otago, New Zealand. Located 110 kilometres north of Dunedin, it lies in dry rough country at a moderately high altitude close to a small tributary of the Taieri River. It is a service town for the local farming community...
and 60 kilometres northeast of Alexandra
Alexandra, New Zealand
Alexandra is a town in the Central Otago district of the Otago region of New Zealand. It is located on the banks of the Clutha River , on State Highway 8, 188 km by road from Dunedin and 33 km south of Cromwell.At the time of the 2006 census, the permanent population was 4,827, an...
, near Dunstan Creek, beneath the St Bathans Range and Dunstan mountains. It takes its name from Abbey St Bathans
Abbey St. Bathans
Abbey St Bathans is a community in Berwickshire in the eastern part of the Scottish Borders.Although its name suggests a larger foundation, Abbey St Bathans was originally a priory of Cistercian Nuns...
in Berwickshire
Berwickshire
Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...
in the Scottish Borders
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
.
Prominent features include the historic Vulcan Hotel, a restored and reputedly haunted
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
public house; and the Blue Lake
Blue Lake, Otago
Blue Lake is a small lake adjacent to the town of St. Bathans in Central Otago, New Zealand. The lake is man-made, the result of sluicing operations that began in 1873 when John Ewing formed the St.Bathans Channel Company, to mine the Kildare Hill Gold Claim in St Bathans. His company constructed...
, a small lake formed during gold-sluicing
Placer mining
Placer mining is the mining of alluvial deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment....
, which gives it a distinctive turquoise colour.
The area attracts many visitors intent on gold-prospecting
Gold prospecting
Gold prospecting is the act of searching for new gold deposits. Methods used vary with the type of deposit sought and the resources of the prospector...
.
Saint Bathans mammal
In 2006, scientists reported the finding of nontherianTheria
Theria is a subclass of mammals that give birth to live young without using a shelled egg, including both eutherians and metatherians . The only omitted extant mammal group is the egg-laying monotremes....
mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
fossils in the Manuherikia Group near Saint Bathans. Previously it had been thought that bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s were the only terrestrial mammals native to New Zealand. Dubbed the SB mammal (for Saint Bathans), the scientists' analysis indicates that the creature has a lineage distinct from monotremes (egg-laying mammals), eutheria
Eutheria
Eutheria is a group of mammals consisting of placental mammals plus all extinct mammals that are more closely related to living placentals than to living marsupials . They are distinguished from noneutherians by various features of the feet, ankles, jaws and teeth...
ns (placental mammals) and metatheria
Metatheria
Metatheria is a grouping within the animal class Mammalia. First proposed by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1880, it is nearly synonymous with the earlier taxon Marsupialia though it is slightly wider since it also contains the nearest fossil relatives of marsupial mammals.The earliest known...
ns (marsupial
Marsupial
Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by giving birth to relatively undeveloped young. Close to 70% of the 334 extant species occur in Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands, with the remaining 100 found in the Americas, primarily in South America, but with thirteen in Central...
s).