Built in 1840 the rammed earth walls are very ecologically friendly and quite unique for New Zealand until modern versions of the technique have become popular in the last few decades.

The centre piece was the Gaveaux press. This was the absolute latest in portable printing press technology from France. It took the printer a year to get the press to Russell.

Pompallier was more than just a printery however. It was also a tannery. The leather was primarily used to cover the 40,000 books printed here. You can see the tanin pit and the board the hair was sloughed off. The skins being removed from the pit and cleaned before being put into a stronger solution. It would take up to a year to fully process a skin.

Skins which needed to be strong and inflexible were hammered flat.

Skins for books were softened with a process of trampling onto a hurdler, hammering with an uneven mace, rubbing with an arm crippler, skiving off to reduce the thickness and being stretched over a blunt blade.

Then on the second floor the wooden proof press connected Pompallier to Gutenberg. Components of this press were scavanged from a very similar press to Gutenbergs in France. The rest of the press was rebuilt in New Zealand in 1842. In this room the type was composed. Then it was inked, the paper placed in the tympan and frisket and rolled under the platen.

Pressure applied using the arm.

If the proof print was considered correct - then the setting was lowered down to the first floor and the Gaveaux via a trapdoor and pulley.

Once the pages were all printed, then the next high tech process was required. Binding. Here pages are collated and stitched on a sewing press over cords.

As a guillotine was too large and expensive to ship - a plough press and plough plane were used to cut open the folded edges of the pages at the same time create a smooth edge

The spine was rounded and the end boards glued (the glue was made from rendered hooves). Finally the leather cover was glued on to provide protection.

One of the amazing things about all the clamps and presses for this process is that they were all made from wood, by hand!

When the printery was disestablished in 1850, missionaries moved south with all their gear. Later in the 19th century, the Gaveaux press became the property of Maori King Tawhiao and used to print his Kingitanga newspaper, Te Paki o Matariki. It was returned to the Russell printery in 1967 courtesy of Queen Dame Te Ataairangi Kaahu. A press that has printed so much in Maori for both the French Catholic Mission and the Kingitanga movement is truly a nationally treasure.

If you get the chance, visit Pompallier Mission, Russell in the Bay of Islands and take the tour. It's an amazing piece of New Zealand’s history and the most amazing combination of inspiration, technology and hard work. www.pompallier.co.nz

Cheers, Dave.