pompallier mission and printery

go and see the original tannery and printing press and book binding. Very interesting and also gave an insight into the original settlers of New Zealand.

Being a member of Heritage New Zealand its been a long time goal to visit Pompallier House, amongst New Zealands Pakeha heritage it is a unique site - the first structure purpose built to house printing presses, and a unique building method (rammed earth) used by the French Mission brothers.I waited for a tour and would strongly recommend to anyone to wait for a tour - on its own the displays, furnishings and rooms simply don't explain their purpose adequately - in the context of a tour not only did the building make more sense, we were all fascinated by how much the language of the printing industry passed into our common everyday useage, the tour doesn't take very long and as previously mentioned, it really helps understand the site.Afterwards I was free to walk through the building on my own and walk the surrounding gardens, I thought everything was well presented and the staff familiar with their subject without being jaded - I felt welcome to stay and really enjoyed my time at Pompallier House - highly recommended.

The Pompallier Mission is set out to convert the Maori to Christianity in the 1840s. The missionaries needed books in the Maori language in order to spread the word. The extant printery building, used as a residence over the years, has been returned to its original printery configuration and had the 19th C printing and book binding processes, recreated. It is set in ground surrounded by a cottage garden at the front, with a 19th C vegetable garden and fruit orchard. You can wander at leisure using free guide notes or tag along with the location guides who give a very detailed and vivid description of the history of the Mission, its people and buildings and all of the book making processes (about 40 min) The exhibits cover; the Compositor & Imposition room, the Printery, the Tannery & Currier's workshop and the Book bindery. A small Museum with interactive exhibits is also on the top floor. A small souvenir shop doubles as the ticket office. Opens at 10:00 am. Managed by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.

We visited here with friends.We all found it very interesting and the guide who took us round was very informative,The grounds are very well maintained and would be worth visiting even without the mission building.

The complete course on leather-making is presented on this very informative tour. Historic tannery for painstaking production of leather for book covers. The tour also takes you through the process of printing in the mid 19th century and finally book binding. In addition one is shown the methods of building construction used to build the Pompalier House building that now stands as a museum.

Hi Ben, Sorry to hear you were bored with your visit to Pompallier Mission. Just to correct a couple of errors in your review. Firstly our admission price is $10 Adult which includes our guided tour. Secondly the Mission building you visited is a Pioneer Printery and Tannery and that is how it is interpreted. I hope the rest of your holiday went well.

This was a highlight of our time in the bay of islands. We were encouraged to wait for the guided tour and joined up with a group of students to hear about the history of the land, building, mission, tanning business and the first printing press in NZ. The gardens were beautiful and peaceful, with a great view of the bay. The tour was well worth the wait and cost, and made all the more enjoyable to hear the excited questions of the middle schoolers. I was fascinated to see the actual printing press and cases of print fonts and other artifacts from long ago. They also had a few skins soaking in huge vats to demonstrate the tanning process. The highlight of the time, however, was when the students broke out in a beautiful maori waiata as a thank-you to the host.

This lovely building , on the shores of beautiful Russell, is a delight to visit. Our guide, Julie,was a mine of information on the history of the building and the tanning and printing process carried out as part of the mission. The gardens are beautiful, the location stunning and the guided tour excellent value. Allow time to look at the small museum attached to the building.

Rini? Was our tour guide and she was absolutely fabulous. She gave us such a great tour of the property. She really knows her history and had us all mesmerised with her tales. A surprisingly interesting couple of hours for all of us - from our youngest of 15 through to grandpa of 77.

spent a very enjoyable few hours here learning about the mission and it's incredible printing production. Well worth it and you can get a combined discounted ticket to see the mission and the neighbouring Russell museum.Definitely take up the offer of the free guided tour as it's very informative and brings the story of the mission alive.

A museum that shows how printing was carried out some time back is quite unusual. Very committed guides and well worth spending a few hours there to see how it was done.

If you visit here you are free to roam, but you are missing out if you don't do a guided tour. The ladies tell a great story about the history of the house, Russell, tanning and printing. If you are visiting Russell this is an absolute must-do.

we really enjoyed this tour and how the tour guide Lydia involved our daughter in the process. It brought back so any memories of my childhood and the tanning and orienting process. Our daughter now has a treasure to keep with the print that she made and its great for her to have the history that surrounds it. Thankyou for the highlight of our holiday so far.

Went with family after reading comments on here. So glad we did, was really interesting, interactive, lovely garden. Lovely tour guide. Kids really enjoyed trying out all the old tools and especially bring able to make a print to take home.

We recently stayed in Russell and visited the Pompalier Mission with my two children, aged 9 and 16. We purchased the combined Russell Museum and Pompalier Mission tickets, which were extremely reasonably priced. We were stunned with the quality of the tour provided at Pompalier Mission. The tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable and so much was learnt by all of the family in a truly memorable tour, learning of old-time printing and tanning techniques. It is such a low-key destination but the quality of the tour was exceptional. If you are staying in the Bay of Islands, this tour really is a must do. The gardens are also quite beautiful to wander around. I would highly recommend this tour (don't do it on your own, it simply won't be the same experience).