This Bible held at Te Waimate Mission is an unusual piece in its own right, a Geneva version dated as similar in typeface to those of around 1610.

But perhaps more fascinating are the legends that have grown up around this Bible. All pages before 210 and after 382 are missing, and the remaining pages are torn, curled and scorched. It is believed that this work was held in the Bedggood House at Waimate when it was burnt down in 1845 during occupation by British Forces during the Northern Wars of this period.

It has been suggested soldiers may have torn pages from the book to make fire lighters, though it is unlikely that they would have had such scant respect for a bible.

It is believed that the Bible was rescued by local Maori who gave it back to the Bedggoods when they returned to Waimate.

In 1968, in the now-derelict Bedggood Cottage at Te Waimate Mission, a set of chess pieces (pictured) and a box of dominoes were found under the stairs. Most likely they belonged to the family of John Bedggood, a wheelwright and missionary at the station, who arrived there with his family in 1836.

Each of the 25 domino pieces is made from ebony with an ivory or bone facing and is enclosed in a home-made box with dovetailed joints and a sliding lid. The box was possibly made by John Bedggood, who had fine carpentry skills.

The game of dominoes was believed to have been invented in the Far East in the third century and its popularity spread throughout Europe from the mid-18th century.