34-36 Turnbull St
LN: 2056 C:2
1888
Architect: James Hislop
Evans’ Atlas Flourmill Company Limited Building (Former), a large building constructed in different phases and styles between the 1880s and the twentieth century. The brick buildings constructed in 1888 and 1897 have architectural significance, being designed by well-known Dunedin architect, James Hislop. They have technological value in their early utilisation of roller mills rather than traditional mill stones.
Irishman, William Evans, arrived in New Zealand in 1861 to take part in the Otago gold rush. In 1874 he came to Timaru and selected a site for a grain store, commencing business as a timber, coal and wheat merchant. He actively promoted the Atlast Flour Mill which in 1888 became the Evans Atlas Roller Flour and Oatmeal Milling Company. He had for many years been a member of the Timaru Harbour Board, and was a director of the Timaru Gas Company. Evans Street is named after him.
The store he built ‘on the beach facing the railway yard’ was a large concrete structure. In 1888 a large five storeyed brick mill building, the Atlas Mill, was erected for Evans’ ‘in front of’ his existing concrete store. The largest section of the mill building contained engine room and offices on the ground floor and the milling machinery on the four floors above. Another section contained the wheat cleaning plant; the third section was the boiler house, with dust chamber above. A loose grain elevator lifted grain into a storage bin holding 1000 sacks. Steel rolls were used instead of traditional mill stones – and they processed the wheat, refining it to take the bran out of the flour. The state-of-the-art roller milling machinery was for a 40-ton per day mill, the first bag of flour bearing the ‘Atlas’ brand being produced in January 1889. Goodman Fielder manufactured pasta products from the complex for a number of years. After the Timaru Milling Company closed in 2005, new owners Turnbull Holdings Ltd, began a programme of strengthening the buildings.
Turnbull St is named after Richard Turnbull (1826-1890) who founded Clarkson & Turnbull. He was a member of the first Timaru Borough Council, on the Harbour Board and later a Member of Parliament. He built Timaru's first hall on the site of the present Theatre Royal. One of his sons was an architect. Another founded the grain and shipping firm D.C Turnbull & Co.
Undated photograph of construction work adjacent to Evans Atlas Flour Mill, Timaru (circa 1950?) Shows formwork around a building (two stories?) to the south of the mill. South Canterbury Museum 2011/046.04
1950-1970 Bedfords Flour Mill, Timaru, with freight carriages and the railyard in the foreground. The Press (Newspaper) :Negatives. Ref: 1/1-008813-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/29941518
Timaru railway yards, featuring Timaru Wool & Grain store. The Press (Newspaper) :Negatives. Ref: 1/1-008902-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/29945334
The Diamond brand was established by the Timaru Milling Company Ltd in the late 1880’s supplying oats for breakfast cereals and flour for baking. In 1882, the Timaru Milling Company Ltd opened the first, and also the largest, roller mill in New Zealand. The main brick building of the plant is six stories in height and still stands on Mill Street. The onset of World War II meant that the New Zealand Government were looking for local suppliers of international products to sustain New Zealanders during this period of unrest. The Timaru Milling Company was issued with a licence to manufacture pasta in 1941 and the small scale production of Diamond pasta began. Diamond was New Zealand’s first pasta brand and at the time pasta was still a relatively exotic product. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the popularity of pasta began to grow in New Zealand.
A mounted photograph entitled "Evans' Atlas Roller Flour Milling Company, Timaru, N.Z", circa 1892. Shows the grain storage area to the south of the mill (in the background) prior to the second grain store being built in 1897. The grain is shown stored in a long open fronted shed which is almost full with sacks of grain. Several men are standing in front of the shed and to the right is the Evans' Atlas building. In front of the building is the locomotive 'A' 68 linked to wagons also loaded with grain. South Canterbury Museum 2775
Timaru Flour Mills 1972_Tiaki Ref Num WA-70626-F-PA-Group-00080 Whites Aviation Ltd Photographs
1939 Roundhill, Bernard, 1911-2005. [Roundhill, Bernard], 1911-2005 :What does Peter the Pilot have for breakfast every morning. Of course the energy breakfast, Diamond O-Tis, obtainable from all leading grocers. CSW Ltd. [Timaru Milling Company Ltd. Picture card album back cover, 1939].. Timaru Milling Company Ltd :Peter the pilot albums 1938-1943, 1946-1948, 1950-1953; and Famous flyers and their planes, 1936-1937.. Ref: Eph-B-PICTURE-CARDS-Timaru-1939-01-back. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22440358