Wadestown, New Zealand facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Wadestown
Suburb
Wadestown and Te Ahumairangi Hill, looking from Ngaio
Country	New Zealand
Local authority	Wellington City
Electoral ward	Wharangi/Onslow-Western Ward
Area
• Land	144 ha (356 acre)
Population  (June 2022)
• Total	3,790

Crofton Downs	Ngaio
	Wadestown	Kaiwharawhara
Wilton	Thorndon

Wadestown is a northern suburb of Wellington, (the capital city of New Zealand) located about 2–3 km by road from the Wellington central business district and the New Zealand Parliament Buildings.

It is a residential suburb overlooking Thorndon and the Ngaio Gorge from the northern flanks of Te Ahumairangi Hill (formerly Tinakori Hill). The suburb is hilly and includes Weld Street reportedly one of the steepest streets in Wellington. Wadestown's streets are picturesque and narrow — 33 feet, half a chain or 10 metres, made by pick and shovel and horse and scoop.

Introduction

The suburb takes its name from John Wade, who arrived in Wellington in 1840 on the vessel "Integrity". In 1841, together with another early settler, James Watt, he acquired land in the area now known as Wadestown, and divided it into one and two-acre lots. There are still roads named Wade Street and Watt Street in the suburb. The suburb is a composite of the original Wadestown and the former suburb of Highland Park, which was naturally absorbed by population and housing growth over several decades.

The Wadestown community has relatively high levels of education and income. The 2006 Census showed that 73.4 percent of people aged 15 years and over have a post-school qualification, compared with 46.3 percent of people throughout the Wellington Region. 47.9 percent of people aged 15 years and over have an annual income of more than $50,000, compared with 23.6 percent of people in the Wellington Region.

Library

Wellington City Libraries operates a branch library at the corner of Lennel and Moorhouse Roads, at the bottom of a green space known as Philip Myers Park.

Wadestown Community Centre

Transportation

Highland Park bus shelter, August 2021

Wadestown is served by the No 14 Wilton bus route.

Wellington had a tramway system between 1878 and 1964. Wadestown was part of the network from 1911. The narrow and steep cutting that forms part of Lennel Road between Barnard Street and Sefton street was specifically created for the tramway. In c. 1918 a tram shelter was built on the corner of Sefton Street and Hosking Lane/Lennel Road. It continues to be used as a bus shelter and is preserved for its architectural and historic value. The Wadestown tram line was closed in 1949 and replaced by a bus service.

Rail

A private funicular

The funicular's terminus

There is no railway station in Wadestown. The Johnsonville line runs along the lower slopes of Wadestown, above the Ngaio Gorge. It was originally built by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company in the mid-1880s, as part of the proposed line from Wellington to Palmerston North. This line was the route of the North Island Main Trunk railway out of Wellington until 1938, when it became the Johnsonville branch line after completion of the Tawa Flat Deviation. There are no train stations in Wadestown itself, although there is a Wadestown crossing loop on the line. The nearest station is Crofton Downs. The steep hillsides in Wadestown occasionally cause difficulties for the commuter train service deep in the valley.

Historic places

Fort Buckley

One of the most significant places of historic interest in Wadestown is Fort Buckley. The fort overlooks Wellington harbour from the top of a steep hill in Barnard Street, above Kaiwharawhara. Fort Buckley was built in 1885 in response to concerns that Russia was gearing up to expand its empire in the South Pacific. Fort Buckley was the first fort capable of defending Wellington's port from a naval attack. It is of national historical importance because the battery is one of the least altered examples of the first defences constructed in the late nineteenth-century in preparation for an expected Russian naval invasion. Fort Buckley is part of a wider network of coastal defences erected around that time, and its construction reflects New Zealand’s increasing independence from Britain on military matters during that period.

The New Zealand Historic Places Trust gave the fort a category 1 historic place listing in 2004. The Fort is now a recreation reserve managed by the Highland Park Progressive Association (HPPA) in partnership with the Wellington City Council (WCC).

Salisbury Garden Court

Salisbury Garden Court is a group of 16 houses clustered in matching pairs around a tennis court near the top of Tinakori Hill in Wadestown. Special aspects of the area are the central court, the bush reserve around the group of houses, and the very steep, pedestrian-only access. Built in 1929-30, the houses show the influence of ‘Garden City’ design ideas. Wellington City Council has designated Salisbury Garden Court a Heritage Area.

During the Great Depression and War years, the earliest tenants made full use of the tennis court as a central activity area. In the 1950s, the Court briefly became a miniature ‘Polish village’, as at one point 13 of the 16 houses were occupied by Poles, many of whom had arrived in New Zealand in 1944 as child refugees. By the 1970s, a ‘hippy commune’ was flourishing at the Court. A documentary film ‘A Place to Stay’, was made by Marie Russell in 2009 about the unique design and unusual social history of Salisbury Garden Court. The film explores the interaction of urban design and community.

No 4 Goldies Brae

Another historic place in Wadestown (although strictly located just inside the Thorndon boundary), is the house at 4 Goldies Brae. It is popularly known as the Banana House because of its crescent-shaped layout. The house was constructed in 1876. It is unusual because of the continuous glazed gallery (or conservatory) that provides enclosed access to each of the ten rooms. This gallery provides solar heat to the rest of the house. Another notable feature is that the house is constructed of concrete, and is probably only the second house in Wellington to be built in this material that was relatively new at the time. The house has a Category 1 listing from the NZ Historic Places Trust. Silston Cory-Wright lived in this house from 1928 until his death in 1976.

Geographic boundaries

From a boundary between Wadestown and Thorndon at the northern end of Grant Road, the Wadestown boundary follows a line along Frandi Street and Sar Street, above the Hutt Road to a point below the eastern most extent of Barnard Street. From there, the boundary turns northwest and continues into the Ngaio Gorge to an intersection with Kaiwharawhara Road. It then follows the course of the Kaiwharawhara stream up the Ngaio Gorge to the intersection of Churchill Drive and Blackbridge Road. The boundary then turns south and follows a line along Wilton Road to the intersection with Norwich Street. From there, it takes a line to the top of Tinakori Hill above Salisbury Garden Court. The southern boundary descends along the top section of Weld Street and then runs east above Wade Street, descending southwest of Orchard Street into Thorndon.

Electorate boundaries

Prior to 2014, Wadestown was in the Wellington Central electorate.

In 2014, the Electoral Commission announced various changes to electorate boundaries. One of these changes was to extend the boundaries of the existing Ōhariu electorate to now include Wadestown.

Demographics

Wadestown statistical area covers 1.44 km² (0.56 sq mi). It had an estimated population of 3,790 as of June 2022, with a population density of 2632 people per km².

Wadestown had a population of 3,753 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 237 people (6.7%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 204 people (5.7%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,398 households. There were 1,836 males and 1,917 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.96 males per female. The median age was 38.1 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 723 people (19.3%) aged under 15 years, 792 (21.1%) aged 15 to 29, 1,827 (48.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 411 (11.0%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 91.0% European/Pākehā, 5.8% Māori, 1.1% Pacific peoples, 8.4% Asian, and 2.5% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).

The proportion of people born overseas was 26.3%, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people objected to giving their religion, 61.4% had no religion, 29.3% were Christian, 1.0% were Hindu, 0.2% were Muslim, 1.1% were Buddhist and 3.3% had other religions.

The Wadestown community has relatively high levels of education and income. Of those at least 15 years old, 1,863 (61.5%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 108 (3.6%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $60,800, compared with $41,800 in Wellington city, and $31,800 for New Zealand as a whole.. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,854 (61.2%) people were employed full-time, 423 (14.0%) were part-time, and 99 (3.3%) were unemployed.

Education

School enrolment zones

The suburb of Wadestown is within the enrolment zones of Wellington High School, Wellington College, Wellington Girls' College, Onslow College and Wadestown School. The eastern parts of the suburb, including Highland Park, are within the enrolment zone of Thorndon School.

Primary school

Wadestown Side School

Wadestown School is a co-educational state school for Year 1 to 8 children. It has a roll of 264 as of April 2023. The school is located on two sites about 1 km apart.

The Weld Street campus (previously known as the Side School) is designed for new entrants, and consists of parallel junior classes (Years 1–2). The school grounds include a playing field, a playground, gardens and a small pool. The Deputy Principal has an office at both Rose Street and Weld Street, sharing time between the two locations.

The Rose Street campus (previously known as the Main School) is located on multiple levels of a hilly site between Rose Street and Purakau Avenue, above Wadestown Road. It provides for children from Years 2-8. Access to the Rose Street campus is by footpath from Mairangi Road at the top of Rose Street. The school has only limited vehicular access. Pedestrian access is available via Purakau Avenue. At the Rose Street campus there are four blocks of classrooms at different levels. Although the Rose Street site is hilly, the grounds include a large flat playground, a playing field, landscaped gardens and tennis courts.

The majority of Wadestown pupils come from the local suburb but a number also come from Wilton, Chartwell, Thorndon, Khandallah and Crofton Downs. The school has an enrolment zone scheme in place.

The Education Act 1877 established a secular, compulsory and free national system of primary education, and 12 Education Boards to oversee state schools. Wadestown School was first opened on the Weld Street site on 1 June 1881, and was one of the earliest state schools to be established in Wellington. It was initially built as a single classroom schoolhouse, but by 1896 it had been extended twice. The original Side School building was demolished after the Second World War and rebuilt in the current design. The replacement building was officially opened on 15 June 1946. The Rose Street campus began as two classrooms on the present Rose Street site, and was opened in February 1917. There have been multiple renovations and building developments on the site since the first opening.

A detailed history of the school was published in 2006 in preparation for the 125th Anniversary in November 2006.

Pre-school education

Pre-school education in Wadestown is provided by Wadestown Kindergarten, a part of Wellington's Free Kindergarten Association. The Wadestown Playgroup provides play activities for children under 5 at the Wadestown Playground and Plunket rooms.

Notable people

Wadestown – looking from Crofton Downs

Notable people who have grown up, lived or worked in Wadestown include:

• William Barnard Rhodes (1807?–1878) – a New Zealand businessman, pastoralist and politician
• James Hutton Mackenzie (1849–1949) – Presbyterian minister, Moderator of the Presbyterian Assembly 1910, and Clerk of the Assembly for 25 years
• Elsdon Best (1856–1931) – Farm worker, soldier, sawmiller, health inspector, ethnographer, writer
• Joseph Firth (1859–1931) – Headmaster of Wellington College 1892 – 1920
• Heather Roy – Politician
• Lily May Atkinson (1866–1921) – Temperance campaigner, suffragist, feminist
• Silston Cory-Wright (1888–1976) – Engineer, university lecturer, soldier, company director
• Percy Roy Angus (1893–1961) – Railway engineer and administrator
• Clarence Edward Beeby (1902–1998) – Educational psychologist, university lecturer, educationalist, senior public servant, ambassador
• Sylvia Ashton-Warner (1908–1984) – Educationalist, teacher, writer
• Peter Campbell (1937–2011) – Art critic and former apprentice to Denis Glover
• Elizabeth Knox (1959–present) – Writer
• Ian Foster – Director, the Computation Institute of the Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago, who currently resides in Chicago
• The residence of the Dutch Ambassador is also found in Wadestown, opposite the Branch Library
• Sean Plunkett New Zealand journalist

Images for kids

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  Highland Park above the harbour, old Wadestown behind Moorhouse St.

• 

  Wadestown Library built 1980 on Philip Myers Park

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  The Grange's cows graze on the future rubbish tip much later Philip Myers Park. Rhodes' house is on the right of the picture where Orchard Street is now

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  The eastern gun pit at Fort Buckley

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  4 Goldies Brae. Until 1907 in Onslow Borough