Empress’ Roller Flour Mill

By 1920 the Waimate flour mill needed greater storage space and more modern machinery. To inject the necessary capital, directors were persuaded to form a public company and ‘The South Canterbury Co-operative Flourmilling Company Limited’ replaced Nicol and Sons.  More land was acquired and the landmark Waimate silos building was opened in 1921 by the Prime Minister of the day, William Massey. The chairman of the company directors, MP John Bitchener, said the shareholders claimed to be the pioneers of silos in New Zealand.

Such notoriety was short lived as a Letter to the Editor published in the Timaru Herald a few days later stated:

‘I take the liberty of correcting statements made by the Waimate Milling Company being pioneers in silo erection and will be pleased to show any inquiring politician a working silo over 30 years in use.’

The letter claimed a silo fit to contain 40,000 bushels of wheat had been operating at the Atlas Flour Mill in Timaru for the past 30 years. The letter had been composed by the managing director of the Atlas Timaru Mill.

The four Waimate silos, each rising to a height of almost 27 metres, had the capacity to store 3200 tons of wheat (including the inter-silo space). An elevator and chute were used to transport the wheat from the silo towers to the mill. The plan to include a new mill building and update the machinery plant had to be deferred as all company capital in hand had been exhausted in the building of the silos.

Before the company had time to refit and modernise the mill plant, the Government introduced a quota on wheat outputs. All mills were forced to accept a limitation in output which did not bode well for the Waimate operations, and for the new silos. An attempt to rescue the Waimate company by the Timaru Milling Company was to no avail, the Waimate plant was sold, the business was wound up, and the land, mill buildings and silos were eventually purchased by the Waimate Transport Company Ltd.

The use of the silos for wheat storage was sporadic. Despite the addition of apparatus to keep it moving, wheat stored in the towers became moist. The silos have remained mainly unused, resurrected briefly around the 1980s for use at a time of bulk harvesting. Grain is still grown in the district, but today’s crops are usually transported by truck to Timaru, or stored in silos on-farm. 

The silos remain as a standout landmark of Waimate but in recent years they have been elevated to a major attraction. Waimate Transport Ltd saw the potential, and, today the silos are decorated with images of notable people who have contributed to Waimate’s rich history.