Hirstlands
Google Maps 2026
Dates: 1908-1917
Location: 62 Katene Road, Normanby, Taranaki (-39.536444, 174.243606)
Registration No: See Normanby
Brand name: See Normanby
NZMS13 - TN33 - 1936
Google Maps - December 2013
Hirstlands Creamery
The Hirstlands Creamery was established in 1908 following the subdivision of the large Hirstlands Estate near Normanby. When the estate was sold in March 1908, the Normanby Co-operative Dairy Factory Company Limited purchased five acres with the intention of building either a cheese factory or a creamery, noting that the decision would “depend upon the support that is likely to be forthcoming”.
After initial confusion over the best site, the directors purchased another sub-divided 2 acre block on Katene Road which was centrally located within the new settlement. Tenders were called in August 1908 for the construction of the creamery, and by November that year, the Hirstlands creamery was operating, receiving milk from an estimated 300–400 cows in the flush of the season.
The creamery quickly became an important outpost of the Normanby Co‑operative Dairy Factory, staffed by experienced managers such as the first manager Mr S. Bowman, who was praised in 1908 for running “the cleanest and most up‑to‑date” creamery in the North Island. However, debate soon arose over whether Hirstlands should convert to cheese production, with directors ultimately concluding in 1909 that the local milk supply - about 25 tons of butter‑fat was insufficient to sustain a cheese plant. The creamery continued operating as a skimming station for the main Normanby butter factory located about 5km away until the mid‑1910s, but by 1917 the Normanby Company resolved to dispose of the buildings and plant, calling for tenders to sell the cottage, creamery building, boiler, pumps, and equipment. The remaining book value of the creamery was written off that same year, marking the end of the Hirstlands creamery after less than a decade of operation. However, the name lived on with the Normanby Co-op branding their whey butter as HIRSTLAND or HIRSTLANDS until at least 1955.
Some Managers included: Mr S Bowman (1908-1910)
1908 plan showing factory section surveyed for the Normanby Dairy Company