History – Hidden treasures

The intention of our Warkworth and District Museum is to preserve the local area’s history. When you visit the museum you will see wonderful displays of artefacts, machinery, clothing and much more from a bygone era. Changing displays are the perfect opportunity for fresh items to be put on show. Many items have been donated by local families whose ancestors were some of the people who made our district what it has become today.

What you see is only a small part of the museum’s collection. Behind the scenes, stored in hidden nooks, specialist rooms and sheds around the museum are fascinating items. Sometimes it is hard to imagine what they were used for, or how people managed to work or even walk in some of the garments. There is a special ‘wardrobe’ room full of fashions from the past, as well as a giant, hidden cupboard full of boxes of small artefacts from compasses to cameras and a workshop of old machinery.

There are also areas for record-keeping and preparing displays.

One of the least known areas, but perhaps the most important for history’s sake, is the special archives room. Here there are shelves full of boxes, which in turn are full of precious documents, books and photos. It is a treasure trove of information, giving a valuable glimpse into times past. There are diaries, legal documents, minute books recording dates, participants names and organisations roles in our community. There are copies of newspapers, such as the Rodney and Otamatea Times or The Weekly News, which contain valuable information which, alongside the factual evidence of legal documents, minute books, dated and labelled photos and the like, give us a fairly good picture of life as it was.

As an example, the museum holds records relating to the Mahurangi Lime Workers Union, which it would seem was set up in 1901 to help sort out a wage issue. Included in the file are membership cards, a minute book and correspondence (both original and a transcript) to and from Wilson’s Cement Works.

These items give names and dates and a record of the proceedings of the union.

The museum is now holding a photo competition of Heritage in Action, based on the ruins of the old cement works in Warkworth. Some of the photos from this competition will be archived at the museum and some will be part of the upcoming Wilson’s cement works display in November. They will record the state and usage at this moment in time. Entry forms are available from the museum’s website warkworthmuseum.co.nz and entries close on October 22.

When we record the minutes of a meeting or take a photograph of an event or local landscape today, we don’t think of it as recording history. But what happens today is tomorrow’s history.