Spa and health resort 70 km south-east of the Lewis Pass. The hot springs in the Hanmer basin, known to Māori, were discovered by local runholder William Jones in 1859. Bathing facilities were opened in 1883. A sanatorium was built in 1897. During the First World War it was replaced by a convalescent hospital that later became the Queen Mary Hospital. It treated people with joint disorders, and later those suffering from psychiatric illness and alcoholism.
