Havelock North

Havelock North
Havelock North
Coordinates: 39°40′S 176°53′E / 39.667°S 176.883°E / -39.667; 176.883Coordinates: 39°40′S 176°53′E / 39.667°S 176.883°E / -39.667; 176.883
Country New Zealand
Region Hawke's Bay
Territorial authority Hastings District
Population (2013 census)[1]
 • Total 13,071

Havelock North is a suburb of Hastings, New Zealand, in the North Island's Hawke's Bay region. It was a borough for many years until the 1989 reorganisation of local government saw it merged into the new Hastings District, and it is now administered by the Hastings District Council.

Location, features and population

Havelock North was founded as a planned Government settlement following the purchase in 1858, from Maori owners, of land previously known as 'Karanema's Reserve'. The original village was laid out in 1860 and named after the hero of the 1857 Indian seypoy mutiny Sir Henry Havelock who famously relieved the siege of Lucknow in November of that year. The suburb, known locally as "the village", stands on the Heretaunga Plains, and has a reputation for its orchards, vineyards, and educational facilities. One of New Zealand's most important wine regions spreads around the area. The town's industry is based around its fruit and wine production, and includes a horticultural research centre. The Village is located less than 2 km to the South East of the Districts larger urban centre Hastings founded in 1875. The gap between the two centres often comes under pressure to construct new housing, however the highly valuable and fertile soils that lie between the two centres continue to prevent urban sprawl linking them together. Havelock North itself is primarily residential and Rural-Residential housing, with only a relatively small and compact industrial and commercial centre. As a result, a large majority of its 13,000 residents commute each morning to the nearby Hastings or Napier cities for work.

Havelock North is situated at the base of the prominent landmark Te Mata Peak, a 399-metre outcrop, which according to local Māori legend is the body of the giant Te Mata o Rongokako,[2] and the depression in the land visible behind his head according to the myth is where he tried to bite through the mountain range which filled his stomach turning him to stone.[3]

One of the town's most impressive buildings is Whare Ra, a house built for a temple of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the early twentieth century.

Havelock North is generally hilly, as it is on the foothills of Te Mata Peak and small gullies have been formed by the creeks and streams flowing from Te Mata Peak, resulting in a small amount of inaccessible or steep land which is converted into forests, parks or reserves, giving the image of naturally having many bushes and trees.

As you enter Havelock North from Hastings you cross a bridge over the Karamu Stream. The deeply incised channel provides a hint that this was once a much larger stream. In the early 1800s this stream was part of the much larger Ngaruroro River system, and was once called the "River Plassey" the same name also being applied to a street in the village after the battle of Plassey of 1757 near Calcutta in India where British Empire hero Robert Clive defeated the Mughal Nawarb Siraj au Daulla. Early survey plans of Havelock North show Ferry landings where boats would sail up and down the river to collect and deliver supplies. Unfortunately a number of large floods during the mid 1800s diverted the Ngaruroro River to its current course further north away from Havelock North and is now referred to as the Karamu Stream.

During the devastating 1931 earthquake the bridge over the Karamu was completely destroyed. Both Hastings and Havelock North obtain very pure water from secure confined aquifer systems. The Te Mata aquifer that feeds Havelock North is very similar to Hastings in quality, but has slightly elevated calcium levels, whereas Hastings is situated directly over the very productive and pure Heretaunga Plains aquifer system (Heretaunga Plains Groundwater Study, Exec Summary - File 500Kb) and (Heretaunga Plains Groundwater Study, Volume 1 - File 9MB).

Areas within Havelock North include Anderson Park, Iona, Havelock North Central, Te Mata and Te Mata Hills, from the census units of Statistics NZ.[4]

History

Suburban Havelock North.
Vineyard on Te Mata Road during summer

Havelock North took its name from Sir Henry Havelock, a hero of the Indian Mutiny campaign, thus keeping with the local habit of naming towns after prominent men from Imperial India. Its founders originally envisaged a larger town for the site, but when the Wellington-Napier rail line went through the area in 1874 it took a direct route some distance from Havelock North, and Hastings became a more logical choice for residents

Like a number of North Island towns, Havelock North has grown larger than its South Island namesake, Havelock, in the Marlborough Sounds.

Residents

Notable residents include:

Education

Havelock North has eight schools: three state primary schools, a state intermediate school, a state secondary school, a private boys' primary school, and two state-integrated girls' secondary schools.

References

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Havelock North.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Havelock North, New Zealand.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 16, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.