Irwell was a small rural township in

Canterbury, New Zealand Canterbury ( mi, Waitaha) is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current f ...

on the intersection of Leeston and Selwyn Lake Roads. All that remains is the forner school hall, a church, and a small number of houses.

History

In the 1870s it consisted of a two stores, two bake houses, a flour mill, a hotel, and a blacksmiths. In 1879 a small school was established with 32 pupils. By the 1920s it had 50 pupils. The school was closed at the end of 1937 and merged with Leeston School. In 1944 the Ellesmere Guardian reported that the old mills at Irwell were one of the few early buildings still standing in area.Relics of the past - Landmarks of Early Christchurch, Ellesmere Guardian, 28 April 1944, Page 4

Heritage buildings

Two buildings at Irwell are listed as heritage sites in the

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 ...

Plan. They are the former Irwell school hall from 1879 and St Mary's Anglican Church on Selwyn Lake Road from 1895.

Demographics

Irwell statistical area, which also includes

Doyleston Doyleston is a minor Canterbury town in the South Island of New Zealand. It was named after Joseph Hastings Doyle, a publican from Christchurch who moved to the locality. Doyleston promised to be one of the main townships in the Ellesmere area ...

and

Selwyn Huts Selwyn Huts, also called Upper Selwyn Huts, is a rural settlement close to the northern shore of Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora in the Selwyn District of New Zealand. Lower Selwyn Huts is a smaller settlement 2.8 km further south. The settlement c ...

, covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². The statistical area had a population of 1,278 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 3 people (0.2%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 96 people (8.1%) 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 513 households. There were 681 males and 597 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.14 males per female. The median age was 44.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 222 people (17.4%) aged under 15 years, 186 (14.6%) aged 15 to 29, 672 (52.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 198 (15.5%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 92.7% European/Pākehā, 9.9% Māori, 1.4% Pacific peoples, 2.6% Asian, and 1.9% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 14.6%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 54.9% had no religion, 33.1% were Christian, 0.7% were Hindu, 0.5% were Buddhist and 1.4% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 183 (17.3%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 198 (18.8%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $37,300, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 609 (57.7%) people were employed full-time, 168 (15.9%) were part-time, and 12 (1.1%) were unemployed.

References

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