Castle Hill Village is an alpine village in Canterbury, New Zealand that started in 1982.

Location

Castle Hill Village is located in

Selwyn District Selwyn District is a predominantly rural district in central Canterbury, on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is named after the Selwyn River / Waikirikiri, which is in turn named after Bishop George Selwyn, the first Anglican bis ...

. It is located adjacent to just north of the Thomas River. Nearby are the distinctive

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

boulders of Castle Hill. The boulders are located within the Kura Tawhiti Conservation Area. The

Craigieburn Range The Craigieburn Range forms part of the Southern Alps in New Zealand's South Island. The range is located on the south banks of the Waimakariri River, south of Arthur's Pass and west of State Highway 73. The Craigieburn locality is adjacent to t ...

forms the backdrop for the location.

History

During the time of the

West Coast Gold Rush The West Coast Gold Rush, on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, lasted from 1864 to 1867. Description The gold rush populated the area, which up until then had been visited by few Europeans. Gold was found near the Taramakau River i ...

in the mid-1860s, a hotel was built along the coach road that is now State Highway 73; traces of Castle Hill Hotel can be found immediately opposite to Castle Hill Village. The coach traffic disappeared when the Midland Line was extended to

Arthur's Pass Arthur's Pass, previously called Camping Flat then Bealey Flats, and for some time officially Arthurs Pass, is a township in the Southern Alps of the South Island of New Zealand, located in the Selwyn district. It is a popular base for explorin ...

just prior to World War I; this withdrew the financial basis for the hotel. After sub-dividing land from his high country Castle Hill Station in 1981, John Reid started the village in 1982. The first sections on sale for $10,000. Reid later sold his remaining land holdings except for the land opposite the village for a 9-hole golf course.

Demographics

Castle Hill Village is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement, and covers . It is part of the statistical area of Craigieburn. 7026669 had a population of 18 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, a decrease of 27 people (-60.0%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 9 people (100.0%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 9 households. There were 12 males and 6 females, giving a sex ratio of 2.0 males per female. The median age was 66.7 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally).

Today

In 2022, there were over 150 houses in the village. Most are

holiday homes A holiday cottage, holiday home, vacation home, or vacation property is accommodation used for holiday vacations, corporate travel, and temporary housing often for less than 30 days. Such properties are typically small homes, such as cottage ...

but some have permanent residents, including Reid who still lives there. A daily school bus service runs to Springfield, just over from Castle Hill Village. There are no public facilities other than a public toilet at the

village hall A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...

and a children's playground. Selwyn District has set separate design rules in its district plan for buildings in Castle Hill Village so that the alpine character of the location is reflected. In 2020, a resource consent allowing up to 111 new plots was granted. Mountain biking is popular around Castle Hill Village with the Hogsback track connecting Castle Hill Village with Texas Flat on the Mount Cheeseman Ski Field Road. The majority of the track construction was carried out in a series of community work parties over the 2010/2011 summer. Castle Hill Village's proximity to the Porters Ski Resort, Mount Cheesman, Broken River and Craigieburn Ski Fields makes it popular with Christchurch residents during the winter.

Climate

Notes

{{Selwyn District, New Zealand Selwyn District Populated places in Canterbury, New Zealand Populated places established in 1982