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Heritage/Museums

Within the Waikato region there are a number of small museums which cater to speciality interests as well as documenting local history.

Waikato Museum of Art and History is the biggest museum within the area and caters to a large group of patrons. Its facilities include an onsite café/restaurant and comprehensive website. It has a well established relationship to the community and is administered via the local government. It contains information on local history, interactive exhibits and a large archive.
Waitomo Caves Visitor Information Centre & Museum is the largest special interest museum within the region. It employs seven staff who administer the information centre and museum it also employs several support staff. The support staff consists of librarians, archivists and curators who administer the content and maintenance of the actual museum itself. Most of this museum's patronage is from tourism - both international and from throughout New Zealand.
Cambridge Museum is a typical example of a museum that is located in the rural greater Waikato. It is very small, employing one person who administers the entire operation, from archiving to curator duties. Its primary activity is documenting local history and as such requires occasional input from the community. The museum also relies heavily on tourists for patronage and thus relies on the seasonal increase of tourists. However the greater Waikato also provides a large amount of visitors particularly during the school holidays.

Most of the museums within the area are very small, typically only employing one person, who fulfils multiple roles. There are approximately 20 of these smaller museums in the region. This person usually has a passion for the topic or region and is sometimes a volunteer. If more than one person is employed at these smaller local museums they are most likely volunteers. These volunteers provide a broad range of roles from running the museum from a day to day basis, to curator type duties or archiving. Most of the visitors to these museums are from outside the region and this means they are usually situated near other tourist attractions or along main routes. Because of this the seasonal increase in the number of tourists is important to these smaller museums. Most of these museums receive financial assistance from the community, as some are run by local societies or supported by local societies or associations.

The largest museums in the Waikato region are those that are speciality themed museums - for example the museums devoted gold mining history in the Coromandel; or those tied to larger tourist operations, such as the museum at Waitomo. There are five of these types of museums in the region and are mostly located in the southern portion of the Waikato and in the Coromandel.

Most of the local museums also contain information on the early history of the region and this may include information on local Māori or Māori material culture.

Waikato Museum of Art & History
View website

Waitomo Caves Museum
View website

Ag Heritage Village

Cambridge Museum

Early New Zealand Museum

Firth Tower Museum

Katikati Heritage Museum

Kawhia Regional Museum & Visitor Information

Paeroa & District Museum

Robinson Sports Museum & Gardens

Tauwhare Military Museum

Te Aroha & District Museum Society

Te Awamutu Museum

Thames Historical Museum

Thames School of Mines & Mineralogical Museum

The Castle Pamela

Waihi Art Centre & Museum

Waihi Gold Mining Museum

Waikato Coalfields Museum


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