Te Uku is a small, mainly farming, settlement on
SH23 in the
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, located from
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
and from
Raglan. It has a
4-Square shop, church, coffee stall and art gallery, filling station, hall, school and
Xtreme Zero Waste recycle bins.
Apart from a statistical area which also covers several other settlements, Te Uku has no defined boundaries. Until Te Uku Post Office opened in 1894, Te Uku was usually referred to as Waitetuna, a name now used for another small settlement to the east.
The name is said to be derived from a clay hill in the district. However, 'uku' also translates to a flat-fish,
skate
Skate or Skates may refer to: Fish
*Skate (fish), several genera of fish belonging to the family Rajidae
* Pygmy skates, several genera of fish belonging to the family Gurgesiellidae
* Smooth skates or leg skates, several genera of fish belongin ...
.
Demographics
Te Uku is in two SA1 statistical areas which cover .
The SA1 areas are part of the larger Te Uku statistical area.
![Te Uku from Hauroto Bay Rd](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Te_Uku_from_Hauroto_Bay_Rd.jpg)
The SA1 areas had a population of 264 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 15 people (6.0%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 63 people (31.3%) 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 87 households, comprising 129 males and 129 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.0 males per female, with 63 people (23.9%) aged under 15 years, 36 (13.6%) aged 15 to 29, 132 (50.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 33 (12.5%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 90.9% 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 Ze ...
, 13.6%
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 ...
, 1.1%
Pacific peoples, 1.1%
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 3.4% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 65.9% had no religion, 25.0% were
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, 1.1% 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 1.1% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 45 (22.4%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 24 (11.9%) people had no formal qualifications. 48 people (23.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 114 (56.7%) people were employed full-time, 39 (19.4%) were part-time, and 3 (1.5%) were unemployed.
Te Uku statistical area
Te Uku statistical area covers all of Waikato District south of
Whaingaroa Harbour, with the exception of Raglan, stretching from
Waitetuna, through Okete, Kauroa and
Te Mata to the coast at
Ruapuke
Ruapuke is a small farming community (predominantly sheep and cattle farmers) in the Waikato region on the slopes of Karioi, between Raglan and Kawhia in New Zealand.
History
The introduction to 'Ruapuke' says, "The greater part of the Rua ...
and
Aotea Harbour
Aotea Harbour ( mi, Aotea Moana) is a settlement and smallest of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located between Raglan Harbour to the north and Kawhia Harbour to the ...
. The statistical area covers
and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km
2.
Te Uku statistical area had a population of 2,748 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 465 people (20.4%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 720 people (35.5%) 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 915 households, comprising 1,392 males and 1,356 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.03 males per female. The median age was 39.7 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 633 people (23.0%) aged under 15 years, 369 (13.4%) aged 15 to 29, 1,458 (53.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 285 (10.4%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 88.3% 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 Ze ...
, 20.6%
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 ...
, 2.6%
Pacific peoples, 1.9%
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.
The percentage of people born overseas was 17.2, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 63.0% had no religion, 25.8% were
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, 0.4% had
Māori religious beliefs, 0.5% 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 1.6% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 555 (26.2%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 297 (14.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $31,600, compared with $31,800 nationally. 408 people (19.3%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,143 (54.0%) people were employed full-time, 351 (16.6%) were part-time, and 60 (2.8%) were unemployed.
Geology
The village lies in the Matakotea valley, which is a tributary of the
Waitetuna River
The Waitetuna River is a river of the Waikato Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows generally northwest from its sources southwest of Whatawhata to reach the southeastern coast of the Raglan Harbour.
Geology
Mainly Upper Pliocene–L ...
. Most rocks in the area are
volcanic
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...
. The village, and most of the land to the west, is on
Hamilton Ash; a 350,000 year old, strongly weathered, mainly yellow-brown, clay-rich, airfall
tephra
Tephra is fragmental material produced by a volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size, or emplacement mechanism.
Volcanologists also refer to airborne fragments as pyroclasts. Once clasts have fallen to the ground, they rem ...
, of
rhyolitic
Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...
and
andesitic
Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...
composition, which includes corroded
quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
crystals, weathered
hornblende
Hornblende is a complex inosilicate series of minerals. It is not a recognized mineral in its own right, but the name is used as a general or field term, to refer to a dark amphibole. Hornblende minerals are common in igneous and metamorphic rocks ...
and
augite
Augite is a common rock-forming pyroxene mineral with formula . The crystals are monoclinic and prismatic. Augite has two prominent cleavages, meeting at angles near 90 degrees.
Characteristics
Augite is a solid solution in the pyroxene group. ...
,
halloysite
Halloysite is an aluminosilicate clay mineral with the empirical formula Al2Si2O5(OH)4. Its main constituents are oxygen (55.78%), silicon (21.76%), aluminium (20.90%), and hydrogen (1.56%). Halloysite typically forms by hydrothermal alteration ...
nodules, and some
manganese
Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...
. The hills to the north are of
Okete Volcanics. The
vertical offsets of the Vanhoutte, Mangawhero and Mangakino
Faults reach a maximum of over near Te Uku trig. The hills to the south of the fault line are of Coleman and Waiharakeke
Conglomerates and Puti and Waikorea
Siltstone
Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.Blatt ''et al.'' 1980, p ...
s, all of
Puaroan age (about 150 million years ago), with 2 million year old Okete Volcanics forming the highest points.
History
Pollen analysis
Palynology is the "study of dust" (from grc-gre, παλύνω, palynō, "strew, sprinkle" and ''-logy'') or of "particles that are strewn". A classic palynologist analyses particulate samples collected from the air, from water, or from deposits ...
in the sediments of the Waitetuna arm of the harbour shows that the original vegetation was
kahikatea
''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori) and white pine, is a coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand. A podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining heights of 60 m and a life span of 600 years. It was firs ...
on the flats, and a mixed
podocarp
Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly Southern Hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pre ...
-
hardwood
Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...
forest on the slopes, with
totara
''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane and ...
,
maire,
matai,
rimu
''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps.
The Māori name ''rimu'' comes from the Polynesian ...
,
rata,
beech
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
and
tree ferns
The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tree ...
.
Kauri
''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely res ...
was present, but not abundant.
Te Uku is part of the
rohe
The Māori people of New Zealand use the word ''rohe'' to describe the territory or boundaries of ''iwi'' (tribes), although some divide their rohe into several ''takiwā''.
The areas shown on the map (right) are indicative only, and some iwi ...
of
Ngāti Māhanga Ngāti Māhanga is a Māori iwi (tribe) that is part of the Waikato confederation of tribes (now called Tainui).
The tribe's historical lands extended from Whaingaroa Harbour (Raglan Harbour) to the west bank of the Waikato River in the city of Ham ...
.
The archaeology map shows that most
pre-colonial settlement was around the harbour, with just three sites in the lower Waitetuna valley, and four sites in the Okete valley, only one of which was a
pā site.
European settlement began in the 1850s. The
Raglan County history said, "On 22 March 1851, eighteen chiefs of Ngati-Mahanga and Ngati-Hourua, headed by
William Naylor, sold to Queen Victoria for the sum of £400 (modern equivalent about $50,000), of country bordering on the southern shores of the harbour. The western boundary of the Whaingaroa Block, as it came to be known, began at Putoetoe (the point on which the town of Raglan now stands) and followed the
Opotoru Stream inland. Leaving that stream at its junction with the Hutewai, the line ran south beyond Te Mata to a point "marked by a hole dug by the side of the path to Aotea. Here it turned north-eastward to run (again in a straight line) for eight miles through dense forest to meet the
Waitetuna River
The Waitetuna River is a river of the Waikato Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows generally northwest from its sources southwest of Whatawhata to reach the southeastern coast of the Raglan Harbour.
Geology
Mainly Upper Pliocene–L ...
, the last few miles of which formed the eastern boundary."
In 1852 John and George Moon, walked to Te Uku from
New Plymouth
New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...
, introducing the first sheep, and the first
horse-drawn vehicle
A horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have m ...
. In 1856 Abraham Kescel bought at Okete and Charles Savage also came from
Taranaki
Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont.
The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...
. James La Trobe settled in 1857.
Waitetuna Redoubt was built to the south of the Narrows, as part of Colonel Richard Waddy’s end of December 1863 expedition to set up a supply line during the
invasion of the Waikato
The Invasion of the Waikato became the largest and most important campaign of the 19th-century New Zealand Wars. Hostilities took place in the North Island of New Zealand between the military forces of the colonial government and a federation ...
. The route was too rugged and it and the redoubt were abandoned, probably before 7 February 1864. It remains as a well preserved earthwork, about across.
A 1915 guide said, "Te Uku is a small township in Raglan County, from Frankton by coach, and about from Raglan, being on the main coach road between Frankton and Raglan. Its principal industries are dairying, flax milling, and timber."
Roads
There are three through roads serving Te Uku; the main east-west SH23, the road south to
Te Mata and
Kawhia
Kawhia Harbour (Maori: ''Kāwhia'') is one of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the south of Raglan Harbour, Ruapuke and Aotea Harbour, 40 kilometres southwe ...
, and the road north to
Waingaro
Waingaro is a rural community in the Waikato District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island, on the banks of the Waingaro River, where it is fed by a hot spring.
Demographics
Waingaro is in an SA1 statistical area which covers . ...
and
State Highway 22.
The first road was built in 1863 from Raglan via Okete (Okete Rd remained the main road until 1906,
or possibly 1913, or later) to the
Waitetuna River
The Waitetuna River is a river of the Waikato Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows generally northwest from its sources southwest of Whatawhata to reach the southeastern coast of the Raglan Harbour.
Geology
Mainly Upper Pliocene–L ...
. The county history said, "For a dozen years or more before the county was formed (1875), 10 miles of roughly formed dirt road, wide enough to carry horse-drawn drays, linked Raglan township with the Waitetuna River. From there the packhorse route (originally known as the Tikihouhou Track) made by the Army during the
Waikato War, wound a tortuous way across the ranges, but it was too narrow, and too steep in parts, to carry vehicles."
It became a through road to Hamilton in 1879. It was
metalled
A road surface (British English), or pavement (American English), is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, hoggin, cobble ...
between 1914
and 1921 and
sealing started in 1937, but wasn't completed until 1961.
From the formation of Raglan Town (1868) and Karioi (1870)
Highways Boards, road building was paid for by local rates.
After the
Immigration and Public Works Act of 1870, government also contributed. In 1870 the Karioi Board decided to make a start on Kauroa Rd south to Te Mata. By 1880 it was described as "a more than ordinarily good road", with the bush "felled for some distance on either hand" and "several well cultivated farms". Metal was reported as being spread to Te Mata from Ponds Rd in 1906 and the road was reported as metalled through to Kawhia in 1928.
The road north to Waingaro developed with settlement from 1874.
Bridges over the Ohautira and Rautawhairi creeks were tendered in 1887. It was metalled in 1937 and seal completed in 2006.
Dennis
Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius.
The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is someti ...
trucks were reported as replacing horses and bullock teams from 1922.
[R T Vernon: Around Raglan 1981]
Railways
Te Uku almost got a railway too. In 1923 the Waikato-West Coast railway district was set up under the 1914 Local Railways Act, which enabled cheaper construction of railways. It got a detailed survey done for a
2 ft 6in gauge railway and had a contractor ready to build a line through the Waitetuna valley, past Te Uku School and Okete Falls and along the edge of the harbour to Raglan.
However, it was opposed by local MP
Alexander Young Alexander Young may refer to:
* Alexander Young (bishop) (died 1684), 17th century Scottish prelate
*Alexander Young (engineer) (1833–1910), Scottish engineer and businessman who became a citizen of the Kingdom of Hawaii
*Alexander Young (musicia ...
, the proposed local rate was defeated in an election in 1923 and the Board was wound up in 1928. The voting area included ratepayers who would have gained little from the railway, such as those in
Ngāhinapōuri and south of
Kawhia Harbour
Kawhia Harbour (Maori: ''Kāwhia'') is one of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the south of Raglan Harbour, Ruapuke and Aotea Harbour, 40 kilometres southwe ...
. Generally those areas which would have benefitted from the railway voted for it, the exception being Te Uku.
Buses
Te Uku is served by the Raglan bus and school buses, but once also had services north and south. The first Hamilton-Raglan coach ran in 1880 and became a
service car route about 1916. From March 1922 a two and a half hour, Pakoka Landing to
Frankton, via Te Mata, "Silver Trail", bus service started, with a motor launch connection to
Kawhia
Kawhia Harbour (Maori: ''Kāwhia'') is one of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the south of Raglan Harbour, Ruapuke and Aotea Harbour, 40 kilometres southwe ...
on Fridays. Problems with rough roads and tides caused it to fail. In 1938 Western Highways started a service from Kawhia to Auckland via Makomako, Te Mata,
Waingaro
Waingaro is a rural community in the Waikato District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island, on the banks of the Waingaro River, where it is fed by a hot spring.
Demographics
Waingaro is in an SA1 statistical area which covers . ...
and
Tuakau
Tuakau ( mi, Tūākau) is a town in the Waikato region at the foot of Bombay hills, formerly part of the Franklin district until 2010, when it became part of Waikato District in the North Island of New Zealand.
The town serves to support local fa ...
(via
Highway 22) and back the next day. In 1946 Brosnan Motors started a daily run, leaving Kawhia at 5.45am, arriving at Auckland at 1pm, returning at 2 pm. and back at Kawhia about 9.30pm. In 1950 Brosnan Motors sold the Raglan-Kawhia run to Norman Rankin, who ended it in 1952. Brosnan Motors sold the Raglan-Auckland run to Pavlovich Motors in 1971. The first bus used on the Auckland-Kawhia run was a 7-seater
Studebaker
Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers M ...
. Then a 10-seater
Dodge
Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...
used by Norman Collett later gave way to a 14-seater
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...
. As the roads improved 18 and 21-seater
Diamond T
The Diamond T Company was an American automobile and truck manufacturer. They produced commercial and military trucks.
History
The Diamond T Motor Car Company was founded in Chicago in 1905 by C. A. Tilt. Reportedly, the company name was creat ...
buses took over. Later 40-seaters ran from Raglan to Auckland, until Pavlovich closed the route in 1976.
[R T Vernon: Raglan]
Churches
On 29 January 1873 Abraham Kescel donated an acre or so o
landto the Anglican Church. The church was also used as a school. The church was burnt down about 1880.
In 1880 the Wesleyan and Anglican Churches were described as two tiny buildings near the Okete River ford.
In 1872 a Congregational church was built about 30 chains nearer Raglan, on land originally taken up by W. Cogswell. A section of about 3 acres was acquired, running from the road to the top of the hill. It was built by Jim Pearce and Joseph Pretty. A scrub fire about 1904 quickly ran up the hill, and completely demolished the building. A 20 feet high stone cairn was built here in 1971.
east of Te Uku, St Paul's Anglican church was built in 1906 by Ernest Morris of Morris and Emmett. A Building Inspector said it had to be demolished, because rain water had caused extensive rot and it had begun to fall sideways and nobody should enter while there was any wind movement. A last service was held on Sunday 13 April 1980. Demolition was on 14 January 1981 and a memorial plaque laid in 1982 and dedicated on 20 March 1983. St Paul's Cemetery remains beside the main road.
After the 1904 fire, there seems to have been a gap in Methodist worship until the Memorial Hall was used shortly after it was built in 1919.
Arthur Moon married Janet McFarlane, from the Isle of Skye, who had trained as a nurse in Glasgow. They had one son, Keith, who was killed while serving in the R.N.Z.A.F. in World War 2. In 1950, Mrs Moon built the Moon Memorial Methodist Church.
Surfside (affiliated with the
Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...
) bought it in 2003.
Flax mills
] In the 19th and early 20th centuries there were many
Flax in New Zealand, flax mills around Te Uku. The longest lived started about 1868, when Wallis Brothers used a water-wheel to drive a mill at Okete Falls. The
overshot wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or bucket ...
was replaced by a
pelton wheel
The Pelton wheel or Pelton Turbine is an impulse-type water turbine invented by American inventor Lester Allan Pelton in the 1870s. The Pelton wheel extracts energy from the impulse of moving water, as opposed to water's dead weight like the trad ...
in 1902. In 1925, due to shortage of flax, the pelton wheel was attached to a generator and the flax mill closed.
A year later it was reported, ''"The flax mill belonging to Captain Johnstone is just being completed. This will make the seventh flax mill erected here within about a twelvemonth. These are all in full work, and three others are in preparation. The mills completed and working full time belong to the following gentlemen Messrs Wilson, Moon, Sutton, Wallis, McDonald, Mitchell, and Captain Johnstone. The other mills being erected are by Messrs. Ogilvie, of Auckland, McDonald. and La Trobe."''
Two decades later there was a list of "''industries along the Raglan and Waipa Road. Five miles from Raglan, we come to the flax-mill of Messrs Wallis just above the beautiful Okete Falls, having abundance of water for the mill. The next mill is that of Mr Wilson, now leased to Messrs Ormiston. A few miles along the flax mill of Mr La Trobe at the junction of the Waipa and Kauroa roads. The next mill is that of Mr Moon, which is not in work just now, but is expected soon to be. On the Hot Springs Road, a short distance from its junction with the Waipa Road, is the flax mill of Mr Cogswell.''"
As with mills elsewhere in the country, they succumbed to shortage of flax due to fires, drainage and grazing. Little remains; a few parts of Okete mill lie near the falls and its pelton wheel stands outside Raglan museum. Of George Leakey's 1900s mill on the Okete stream, the
mill race
A mill race, millrace or millrun, mill lade (Scotland) or mill leat (Southwest England) is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel ( sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. Compared with the broad waters of a mi ...
was, in 1975, still visible "for several 100 yards" below St Paul's cemetery.
Memorial Hall
The hall was built in 1919 on land donated by Arthur Moon as a memorial to the 1914-18 war. Timber was felled on Mount
Karioi
Karioi or Mount Karioi is a 2.4 million year old extinct stratovolcano SW of Raglan in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It was the earliest of the line of 6 calcalkalic volcanoes, the largest of which is Mount Pirongia (the oth ...
, milled at Armstrong's mill at Te Mata, carted by Te Uku farmers and erected by J. Munro of Raglan. Dressing rooms were added later and used for a Library, and
Plunket Room. Apart from dancing, the hall was also used for films,
Women's Institute
The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being th ...
, a garden circle, bowls, badminton and meetings.
It was replaced in April 1951 due to
borer
Borer may refer to:
Insects
* Stem borer
* Twig borer
* Shoot borer Moths
* ''Chilo'' (moth)
*''Diatraea grandiosella'', southwestern corn borer
*'' Podosesia syringae'', ash borer or lilac borer
*'' Melittia cucurbitae'', squash vine bore ...
damage.
Quarries
Te Uku limeworks opened in the 1930s, just north of Te Uku Landing. Over about 15 years it crushed several thousand tons for agricultural use and driveways, initially with a traction engine and later with electric power.
Okete quarry opened beside Okete Falls in the 1940s. The rock is
Basanite
Basanite () is an igneous, volcanic (extrusive) rock with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. It is composed mostly of feldspathoids, pyroxenes, olivine, and plagioclase and forms from magma low in silica and enriched in alkali metal oxides that s ...
, erupted between 2.69 and 1.8 million years ago.
Te Uku Landing
]Te Uku Landing is from Te Uku, though a public reserve still exists half a mile closer, which was planned to be the landing before the surveyors realised the difficulty of navigating the rapids.
In a 1904 Chronicle, Langley was advertising for cargo for the launch 'Nita', which ran from Raglan to Te Uku every Tuesday.
The last auction to lease Te Uku landing reserve (for a term of 14 years) seems to have been in 1918. Presumably after that it declined as the roads took over the main transport role.
Sawmills
A mill at Ohautira opened in 1943 and closed in the early 1960s.
It was still marked on the 1978 map.
Saleyards
Before Kauroa
Cattle Market Ground, saleyards were first used on 21 January 1914, sheep and cattle yards had existed at the start of the road to Waingaro.
Local farmers formed Kauroa Saleyards Society in 1977, when the yards were threatened with closure,
and continue to hold sales.
Shops
Te Uku store opened in 1924 on land which the Anglican Church had planned to use as a graveyard.
Post office
Te Uku's first Post Office opened in 1894, about halfway between Te Uku and Waitetuna. It was replaced on the current site, next door to the shop and school, in 1925. It closed as a Post Office in 1988, then became a gallery and was renovated to its current coffee bar use, as Te Uku Roast Office, in 2011.
=Telephone
=
A line connecting Raglan and Hamilton served Te Uku from 1884. A telephone office opened in 1906 and an
exchange
Exchange may refer to:
Physics
*Gas exchange is the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Places United States
* Exchange, Indiana, an unincorporated community
* ...
with 15 subscribers in 1924.
Te Uku microwave tower was built in the 1950s and Te Uku exchange was automated in the 1970s.
In 2016 the Te Uku cell tower, built under the
Rural Broadband Initiative, improved wireless broadband and mobile phone coverage.
Electricity
Apart from two small 1920s hydro electric schemes,
Te Uku was without electricity until 27 September 1935, after which there was a formal switching on ceremony. Connections to other parts of the district were slow,
Ruapuke
Ruapuke is a small farming community (predominantly sheep and cattle farmers) in the Waikato region on the slopes of Karioi, between Raglan and Kawhia in New Zealand.
History
The introduction to 'Ruapuke' says, "The greater part of the Rua ...
not being connected until 1966.
Te Uku windfarm opened in 2011, but there is no direct connection, Te Uku continuing to be supplied from the 11 kV substation on the corner of Ohautira Rd.
Historic photos
Many photographs were taken for Gilmour Bros, the Raglan store, in 1910. These are on the National Library website -
Pupils and staff at Te Uku Public SchoolSt Paul's churchMangakino Bridge(compar
Google street sceneBridge over the Waitetuna River(compar
Google street sceneLynnwood Homestead(replacing nearby Halfway House,
which burnt down in 1906)
Te Uku post officeErnest C Moon, postmaster, Te Uku(publicised for writing with his feet)
Overton, Wallis Rd, Okete BayCopwells Bay, Te UkuThe Caves, Te UkuThere's also an Auckland Weekly News photo
Education
In 1871 Waitetuna residents agreed to build a school, but an 1872 flood washed away the timber for the scheme. A half-time school and a private school ran for a while. Waitetuna School District was gazetted in 1873, but the Education Rate proved insufficient to pay the teacher and the school closed in 1875.
A new school on donated land opened, with a teacher's residence added in 1877 and an adjacent 11 acres added by the Waste Lands Board in 1878. As early as 1882 a petition requested the school be moved away from the damp hollow, but nothing happened until the main road was diverted through the grounds in 1906.
On 24 August 1903 Waitetuna School changed its name to Te Uku. In August 1908 the present school was established about 800 metres to the east, with one room on another 2 acres of donated land. Inadvertently, an acre of Church land was taken by the school until sold for a post office and store in 1923. A second classroom was added in 1935, a teacher's house in 1941, a concrete play area in 1948, a football paddock leased from 1951, a prefab added in 1954, a lavatory block in 1957, a school pool in 1961 and the Aramiro School building moved here in 1965.
Ohautira Maori School closed in 1969, shortly after the timber mill, and in 1975 another classroom was added.
The Ohautira school building was moved to
Motumaoho in 1969.
Te Uku School is now a co-educational state primary school,
with a roll of as of .
Other primary schools in the area are at
Te Mata and
Waitetuna, and there is a composite school at Raglan.
Okete
![Okete](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Okete.jpg)
Okete is on the north-west side of Te Uku.
Four Okete
pā sites are listed in the District Plan. Okete Methodist Church opened in 1872 and by 1874 the church was also being used as a school. As mentioned above, a flax mill started about 1868 and another burnt down in 1885. Okete Post Office burnt down in 1904 and the same year, the church also burnt down. It was replaced in 1905. In 1886 Okete's population was 39. In 1906 it was 26. The 2013 population of
meshblocks 0860500 and 0860600 was 228. Okete Road was a mud road until 1921, when metalling began. In 2011 the road south of Okete Stream was straightened and sealed. About remains as a gravel road.
The small settlement of Howdenville was built at the entrance to Okete Bay, on land sold by the Wallis family to Les Howden, a Hamilton jeweller. The former quarry beside Okete Falls has been planted with native trees.
References
External links
1:50,000 map1910 photo of St Paul's church
{{Waikato District
Populated places in Waikato
Waikato District