Matamata facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Matamata
Matamata information centre
Country	New Zealand
Region	Waikato
Territorial authority	Matamata-Piako District
Electorate	Waikato
Elevation	63 m (207 ft)
Population  (June 2023)
• Urban	9,130
Time zone	UTC+12 (NZST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+13 (NZDT)
Postcode	3400
Area code(s)	07

Matamata is a town in Waikato, New Zealand. It is located near the base of the Kaimai Ranges, and is a thriving farming area known for Thoroughbred horse breeding and training pursuits. It is part of the Matamata-Piako District, which takes in the surrounding rural areas, as well as Morrinsville and Te Aroha. State Highway 27 and the Kinleith Branch railway run through the town. The town has a population of 9,130 as of June 2023.

A nearby farm was the location for the Hobbiton Movie Set in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. The New Zealand government decided to leave the Hobbit holes built on location as tourist attractions. During the period between the filming of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey they had no furniture or props, but could be entered with vistas of the farm viewed from inside them. A "Welcome to Hobbiton" sign has been placed on the main road. In 2011, parts of Hobbiton began to close in preparation for the three new movies based on the first Tolkien novel, The Hobbit.

History

In the early nineteenth century, the area including and surrounding the present-day Matamata township was part of the territory of the Ngāti Hauā. The Matamata pā itself was actually located near the present-day settlement of Waharoa, approximately 6 kilometres (4 miles) to the north.

The first European thought to have visited the Matamata area was the trader Phillip Tapsell in about 1830. In 1833 the Reverend Alfred Nesbit Brown visited the area and in 1835 opened a mission near Matamata Pa, but this closed the following year when intertribal warfare broke out. In 1865 Josiah Firth negotiated with Ngāti Hauā leader Wiremu Tamihana and leased a large area of land, including the future site of the town which he named after the pā. Firth constructed a dray road to Cambridge and cleared the Waihou River so that it was navigable by his (small) boats.

Firth's estate later failed and by 1904 had been wholly obtained by the Crown and was subdivided into dairy farm units to take advantage of the new technology of refrigeration. It became a dependent Town District in 1917, an independent Town District in 1919 and was constituted a borough in 1935. With the re-organisation of territorial authorities in New Zealand in 1989, Matamata became part of the Matamata-Piako District.

Nearby towns

Smaller towns nearby are:

• Hinuera
• Peria
• Turanga-O-Moana
• Te Poi
• Waharoa
• Walton, New Zealand
• Wardville, New Zealand

Demographics

Sign in Matamata identifying town as the location where the Hobbiton scenes from the Lord of the Rings were filmed

Livestock in Matamata

Matamata, comprising the statistical areas of Matamata North and Matamata South, had a population of 7,806 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 720 people (10.2%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 1,509 people (24.0%) since the 2006 census. There were 3,111 households. There were 3,717 males and 4,089 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.91 males per female, with 1,374 people (17.6%) aged under 15 years, 1,314 (16.8%) aged 15 to 29, 2,934 (37.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 2,187 (28.0%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 84.5% European/Pākehā, 15.7% Māori, 1.7% Pacific peoples, 5.9% Asian, and 1.4% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).

The proportion of people born overseas was 16.6%, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people objected to giving their religion, 49.2% had no religion, 37.2% were Christian, 1.0% were Hindu, 0.2% were Muslim, 0.7% were Buddhist and 3.0% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 678 (10.5%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 1,848 (28.7%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 2,763 (43.0%) people were employed full-time, 849 (13.2%) were part-time, and 198 (3.1%) were unemployed.

Sports

Matamata is home to the Matamata Swifts soccer team, who compete in the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Division 1A.

Educational institutions

Matamata College is the town's co-educational state secondary school, with a roll of 748 as of April 2023.

Matamata Intermediate is the town's co-educational state intermediate school, with a roll of 398.

There are two co-educational state primary schools: Matamata Primary School, with a roll of 449; and Firth School, with a roll of 213. The motto for Firth School is E Tipu E Rea, which translates as Grow and Flourish.

Matamata Christian School is a co-educational state integrated Christian primary school, with a roll of 85.

St Joseph's Catholic School is a co-educational state integrated Catholic school, with a roll of 43.

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  Aerial view of Matamata College in the 1940s

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  Front of Matamata College in the 1950s

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  Matamata Public School from around 1909.

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  Matamata Public School around 1919.

Notable people

• Shane Dye
• Casey Kopua
• Lance O'Sullivan
• Tim Mikkelson
• Hon Mike Rann CNZM
• Dame Patsy Reddy
• Dame Catherine Tizard
• Matthew Stanley
• Claudia Pond Eyley
• Kyle Wealleans

Images for kids

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  Plantations of oak, larch, chestnut and ash were established near many railway stations. Matamata’s is registered in Council’s District Plan for Hetana St