Clevedon, previously known as Wairoa South, is a rural town in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, New Zealand, located in the Franklin ward, one of the thirteen administrative divisions of Auckland city. The town is governed by the Auckland Council. The town is the centre of an administrative ward of Franklin which takes in much of the largely rural area to the east of the urban heart of the city. Clevedon is located on the Wairoa River five kilometres from its estuary and outflow into the

Tamaki Strait The Tamaki Strait is one of several passes between the islands of the inner Hauraki Gulf, close to the mouth of the Waitematā Harbour near Auckland city in New Zealand. The strait separates the North Island mainland from Waiheke Island along ...

, an arm of the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Hunua Ranges The Hunua Ranges is a mountain range and regional park to the southeast of Auckland city, in the Auckland and Waikato regions of New Zealand's North Island. The ranges cover some and rise to 688 metres (2255 ft) at Kohukohunui.

. Several popular beaches are located on the coast close to Clevedon, including Duder's Beach and

Kawakawa Bay Kawakawa Bay is an east coast bay and settlement in the Franklin area of New Zealand's Auckland Region. It is located on the western side and northern end of the Firth of Thames, the southern side of the Hauraki Gulf, and north of the Hunua Ran ...

. Between these two beaches lies the

Duder Regional Park Duder Regional Park is a regional park situated on the coast to the east of Auckland, New Zealand, on the Whakakaiwhara Peninsula. The area was one of the first places in the Auckland Region visited by the ''Tainui'' canoe, becoming an important ...

History and culture

Pre-European history

Prior to human settlement, the area was swampy, and

Bush moa The bush moa, little bush moa, or lesser moa (''Anomalopteryx didiformis'') is an Extinction, extinct species of moa from the family Lesser moa, Emeidae (lesser moa). Description It was the smallest known species of moa, only slightly taller ...

, Mantell's moa and

North Island giant moa The North Island giant moa (''Dinornis novaezealandiae'') is an extinct moa in the genus ''Dinornis''. Even though it might have walked with a lowered posture, standing upright, it would have been the tallest bird ever to exist, with a height ...

bones have been found in the vicinity. Clevedon and surrounding area is traditionally the territory of the

Ngāi Tai Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, ...

Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki is a Māori tribe that is based in the area around Clevedon, part of the Auckland region (''Tāmaki'' in the Māori language). It is one of the twelve members of the Hauraki Collective of tribes. The founding ancestors o ...

people, who are descendants of the ''Tainui'' waka. In the 1300s, crew from the Tainui

waka Waka may refer to: Culture and language * Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand ** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe ** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe ** Waka taua, a Māori w ...

took shelter at Whakakaiwhara Peninsula. When they went ashore, they feasted on the fruit of the kiekie vine, giving the origin of the name, to eat (kai) the edible bracts (whara) of the kiekie vine. The peninsula and headland Pā providing shelter to the Tainui

became the permanent home and Pā for many

Ngai Tai Ngai (also called Múrungu or Enkai) is the monolithic Supreme Being, Supreme God in the spirituality of the Kikuyu people, Kikuyu (or Gikuyu) and the closely related Embu people, Embu, Meru people, Meru and Kamba people, Kamba groups of Kenya, a ...

. The area was named ''Te Wairoa'' (the Long River). Ngāi Tai traversed their tribal domain, including the inner islands of the Hauraki Gulf, in a seasonal cycle of harvesting, gathering and fishing. The peninsula is now managed by the Auckland Council as part of the

. Ngā Tai maintained settlements in several places, including: * Otau and Tuawa near present-day Clevedon, in Te Wairoa River valley * At Tararua near the mouth of the Rautawhiti Stream, in Te Wairoa River valley * At Takatekauere, Te Totara, Te Ruato and Pehuwai on the western side of Te Wairoa River * Te Oue, Mawherawhera, Te Kuiti and Umupuia, on the Whakakaiwhara Peninsula Between the 1830s and 1863, the Te Hingawaka

hapū In Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or " clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally op ...

of Ngāti Pāoa lived at the base of Te Oue pā. In 1982, Rachael Beamish gave a portion of her beachfront land and began fundraising for a marae.

European settlement

The European settlement of Clevedon was established in 1866. It was named after the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

town of

Clevedon Clevedon (, ) is an English seaside town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, part of the ceremonial county of Somerset. It recorded a parish population of 21,281 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, estimated at 21,442 ...

. All Souls Church, built in the Selwyn style and located in Clevedon, is registered by

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

as a Category II structure, with registration number 682.

Marae

The local Umupuia Marae and Ngeungeu meeting house is a traditional meeting place for

and the

Waikato Tainui Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori ''iwi'' based in Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zealand ...

of Ngāti Koheriki and

Demographics

Statistics New Zealand describes Clevedon as a rural settlement, which covers . Clevedon settlement is part of the larger Clevedon statistical area. Clevedon settlement had a population of 606 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 ...

, an increase of 51 people (9.2%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 45 people (8.0%) 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 189 households, comprising 297 males and 312 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.95 males per female, with 123 people (20.3%) aged under 15 years, 105 (17.3%) aged 15 to 29, 288 (47.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 93 (15.3%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 91.1% European/

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non- Māori New Z ...

, 5.9%

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

, 3.0% Pacific peoples, 6.9%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, and 2.5% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 43.1% had no religion, 44.6% were Christian, 1.0% had Māori religious beliefs, 2.5% were

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

, 2.5% were

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and 1.5% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 138 (28.6%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 60 (12.4%) people had no formal qualifications. 138 people (28.6%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 279 (57.8%) people were employed full-time, 84 (17.4%) were part-time, and 6 (1.2%) were unemployed.

Clevedon statistical area

Clevedon statistical area covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². The statistical area had a population of 1,515 at the

, an increase of 63 people (4.3%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 171 people (12.7%) since the

. There were 507 households, comprising 762 males and 753 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.01 males per female. The median age was 43.0 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 294 people (19.4%) aged under 15 years, 261 (17.2%) aged 15 to 29, 756 (49.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 207 (13.7%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 92.5% European/

, 7.1%

, 1.8% Pacific peoples, 5.0%

, and 1.8% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 21.0, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 49.5% had no religion, 41.2% were Christian, 0.4% had Māori religious beliefs, 1.2% were

, 0.2% were Muslim, 1.2% were

and 1.4% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 351 (28.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 144 (11.8%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $44,200, compared with $31,800 nationally. 375 people (30.7%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 690 (56.5%) people were employed full-time, 234 (19.2%) were part-time, and 27 (2.2%) were unemployed.

Education

Clevedon School is a coeducational full primary school (years 1–8) with a roll of as of The school began in 1859 as Wairoa School and moved to its current site in 1878. In 1895 it became Clevedon School.

Notable people

Phil Goff Philip Bruce Goff (born 22 June 1953) is a New Zealand politician. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016. He served as leader of the Labour Party and leader of the Opposition between 11 N ...

, politician and Auckland mayor

References

External links

Clevedon town website
{{Franklin Local Board Area Populated places in the Auckland Region