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Hanmer Springs in 1878, shortly after the first dressing shed was opened.
After their discovery by passing Māori, the first dressing shed was built at the Hanmer Springs thermal pool 150 years ago.
Now the current custodians are giving away entry to the pools for another 150 years to mark the anniversary.
According to historians, the first dressing shed was built in Hanmer Springs in 1871 by John Fry, said Graeme Abbot, Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa general manager.
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A jubilee of the pools in 1933 was celebrated with a parade through the village streets.
“He built the shed and put in steps to the hot springs so his customers of the Jollies Pass Hotel could benefit from the thermal pools.
“The shed ultimately marks the beginning of the pools as we know them today, and the 150th anniversary is a really special time for our whole community.”
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A women’s pool at the hot springs.
The site became a public establishment in 1883 when the Crown fenced it off for the paying public, and a jubilee of the pools in 1933 was celebrated with a parade through the village streets.
The pools have come a long way since the single dressing shed sat on a very exposed site in the Hanmer basin.
The original hot spring is believed to be located next to the historic gasometer, near the current entrance of Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa.
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Conical Hill – with far fewer trees than it has today – with Hanmer Hall in the left foreground and The Lodge on the right.
Early Māori were the first to discover the thermal springs while travelling through the region.
While they never settled in Hanmer Springs, the discovery of ancient native umu (ovens) indicated travellers’ camps or signs that people had stopped.
In 1859, an announcement in The Lyttelton Times heralded the discovery of “hot water springs” by William Jones. Fry built the first dressing shed 12 years later.
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The Hanmer Springs pool complex as it looks today.
“This anniversary is in recognition of the support we’ve enjoyed all these years, we want to celebrate the epic memories that hundreds of thousands of visitors have made at our place,” Abbot said.
“We hope the VIP card will be enjoyed for generations to come and passed on as the ultimate family heirloom.”
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