Beavertown Heritage Village

Built by volunteers in the 1960s and also known as Beavertown Replica Village, the immersive streetscape, based on the year 1900, sits within a heritage park that hosts local guilds, clubs, and Marlborough Museum.

Building Beavertown

Beavertown Heritage Village recreates a turn-of-the-century Blenheim commercial centre. Volunteers from the Marlborough Historical Society constructed the replica streetscape during the 1960s. It stands within Brayshaw Heritage Park, which itself was established in 1968 on a former municipal dump site and officially opened in 1971.

The village includes period-furnished shops, stables, a lock-up jail, a dentist's surgery, a bank, a fire station, and a replica newspaper office. Each building is fitted with authentic period displays, and volunteer guilds continue to maintain and restore the structures, regularly installing historically accurate signage.

Heritage Streetscape & Trades

The streetscape captures the range of trades and civic services typical of early colonial towns. Visitors can peer into shop windows stocked with original artefacts and tools. The blacksmith workshop demonstrates regional ironwork techniques, while the stables and lock-up offer glimpses into nineteenth-century law and transport.

Local craft guilds and historical society volunteers keep working displays active across the precinct, bringing the turn-of-the-century atmosphere to life.

Historic wooden colonial shop fronts in Beavertown replica street

The Marlborough Express Building

Replica exterior of the historic Marlborough Express newspaper premises

The replica Marlborough Express building, designed after the newspaper's nineteenth-century offices with arched window frames, houses a remarkable collection of printing heritage. Inside are vintage typewriters, editorial desks, and cast-iron printing presses. The equipment - including high-press machines and hand-setting compositing desks - was sourced from The Marlborough Express and The Nelson Mail in the early 1980s.

Exterior signage, matched to historical designs, was restored with community grant support. The building stands as a tribute to the region's print journalism history.

Plan Your Visit to Beavertown

Beavertown is accessible during regular museum operating hours: Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Come and explore the replica streetscape, watch working demonstrations, and step into early 1900s Blenheim.

Visiting Information Museum Shop