Lawerence Chinese Camp

http://www.nzarchaeology.org/Lawrence%20CC%20final.doc.


Lawrence Chinese Camp Historic Area
Other or former name(s)
[plus dates associated with those names]
The two remaining buildings associated with the former Chinese Camp site at Lawrence are the former Chinese Empire Hotel and its associated concrete outbuilding. The hotel operated at the Camp from the 1860s through until around 1901. Originally wooden, it was rebuilt in brick in the 1880s.
Area Description
The site is made up of four buildings (the former hotel and three associated outbuildings – two of which are thought to post-date the Chinese Camp). The rest of the site comprises a fenced grassed paddock used for grazing. This grassed area was the site of the Lawrence Chinese Camp, which at its peak housed several hundred people and supported the Chinese miners in the district.
The ownership of the site is complex. Part is owned by Mrs R. Pratt of Lawrence and is for sale. Part is a road reserve and presumably vested in the District Council. The balance consists of a number of old titles still in the names of their (long dead) Chinese owners. The whole area has been used for grazing and the current owner of the former hotel wishes to amalgamate the titles. The land and buildings are part of a 5 hectare block that is currently on the market (May 2003).