Shantytown Butchers Shop

The West Coast had only a few European settlers before the gold-rush and when the diggers arrived they had great difficulty in gettting fresh meat. Some enterprising diggers used their dogs to catch birds such as kiwi, weka and kakapo or firearms to obtain ducks and pigeons. While bacon was usually available diggers wanting beef or mutton had to rely on butchers who processed the small number of animals arriving by sea or being driven over the mountain passes between Canterbury and the West Coast.
Shantytown's butchers shop is based on the business owned by the Groom Brothers from around 1903 until the mid-1960s.