Kaiapoi Maritime Heritage Trust Blog

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This Blog will be a portal for all news about the Kaiapoi Maritime Heritage Trust and its activities

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE KAIAPOI MILL DURING THE EARLY DAYS

28 May 2018

The Kaiapoi Woollen Manufacturing Company had its origin partly in John Sim’s flax mill of 1869.

When the flax industry proved uneconomic in 1875 and helped by a £2000  Provincial government bonus, the company changed to producing woollen blankets and other goods using the high quality clip from North Canterbury farms.

After a shaky start the Company went into full production in 1878 developing the site where Cookson & Bowler had built their first wool store on the bank of the Cam.

The bridges created a problem for all the tall masts of the wool ketches, but this was overcome by sending consignments by wagon or punting them downstream to the wharves.

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