
Picton () is a town in the
Marlborough Region
Marlborough District or the Marlborough Region (, or ''Tauihu''), commonly known simply as Marlborough, is one of the 16 regions of New Zealand, located on the northeast of the South Island. It is administered by Marlborough District Counci ...
of New Zealand's
South Island
The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
. The town is located near the head of the
Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui, north of
Blenheim and west of
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
.
Waikawa lies just north-east of Picton and is considered to be a contiguous part of the Picton urban area.
Picton is a major hub in New Zealand's transport network, connecting the South Island road and rail network with ferries across
Cook Strait
Cook Strait () is a strait that separates the North Island, North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, ...
to Wellington and the
North Island
The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
. The Picton urban area has a population of making it the second-largest town in the Marlborough Region behind Blenheim. It is the easternmost town in the South Island with a population of at least 1,000 people.
Toponymy
The town is named after Sir
Thomas Picton
Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton (24 August 175818 June 1815) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. He fought in the Napoleonic Wars and died at Waterloo. According to the historian Alessandro Barbero, Picton was "respecte ...
, the Welsh military associate of the
Duke of Wellington
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...
, who was killed at the
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...
.
Thomas Picton's connection to the slave trade and controversial
governorship of
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
has resulted in calls for places named after him to be renamed.
The town's
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 Co ...
name, Waitohi, translates into English as 'waters of the ritual'. The is a baptismal ritual of warriors before they went into battle. The warriors would line the bank of the sacred stream, and as they filed past, the (chosen experts) dipped a branch of
karamū bush into the stream, striking each warrior on the right shoulder. The rite was last performed on soldiers of the
28th Māori Battalion during World War II.
History
Prior to European settlement, the
Te Atiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui iwi occupied Waitohi
Pā
The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...
on the site of the present town. In March 1850,
Sir George Grey
Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Gov ...
and Sir Francis Dillon purchased the land from Te Āti Awa, who moved to neighbouring Waikawa Bay. In 1859, the
Marlborough Province was created and the newly named Picton became the provincial capital. The provincial capital was moved to Blenheim in 1865.
Author
Katherine Mansfield
Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer and critic who was an important figure in the Literary modernism, modernist movement. Her works are celebrated across the world and have been ...
spent time in Picton, where her grandparents,
Arthur
Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur.
A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...
and Mary Beauchamp, and her father Harold, lived for some time when they came from Australia. She included a reference to the port in her short story "
The Voyage" (in the collection The Garden Party), which is "an account of a trip to Picton from Wellington on the Cook Strait ferry".
The
roll-on/roll-off
Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...
(RORO)
road and rail ferry service between Picton and Wellington started on 11 August 1962, operated by the
New Zealand Railways Department
The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining Rail transport in New Zealand, New Zealand's railway infrastruc ...
with the ship .
Geography
Picton is located in an inlet known as Picton Harbour, on the true right (south) side of the upper
Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui. Picton Harbour is flanked to the west by Wedge Point, which separates it from Grove Arm, and to the east by The Snout, which separates it from
Waikawa Bay. Within the harbour, Kaipupu Point splits the inlet into two, Picton Harbour proper to the east and Shakespeare Bay to the west.
The main town is located on flat to rolling land at the head of Picton Harbour. Waitohi River starts in Essons Valley and passes through the town, draining into the sound near the ferry terminal. The township extends northeast along rolling land towards Waikawa Bay, separated from Picton Harbour by The Snout and Victoria Domain.
On the land side, Picton is surrounded by hills and mountains, including Te Tara-o-Te-Marama/Mount Freeth to the west, the Robertson Range to the south and Mount McCormick to the east. The Elevation Saddle connects southwest of the town with the
Tuamarina River valley and contains the main land transport routes between Picton and the rest of the South Island.
Demographics
Picton, including Waikawa, is defined by Statistics New Zealand as a small urban area and covers .
It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km
2.
Before the 2023 census, the town had a smaller boundary, covering .
Using that boundary, Picton had a population of 4,503 at the
2018 New Zealand census
The 2018 New Zealand census, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018, was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 (10.79%) over the 2013 census.
Resu ...
, an increase of 486 people (12.1%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 456 people (11.3%) since the
2006 census. There were 1,950 households, comprising 2,277 males and 2,226 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.02 males per female, with 582 people (12.9%) aged under 15 years, 507 (11.3%) aged 15 to 29, 2,031 (45.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,383 (30.7%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 87.9% European/
Pākehā
''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...
, 18.3%
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 Co ...
, 1.9%
Pasifika, 2.5%
Asian, and 1.9% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 17.6, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 52.3% had no religion, 35.0% were
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, 1.3% had
Māori religious beliefs
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 Co ...
, 0.4% were
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
, 0.1% were
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
, 0.5% were
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and 1.3% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 465 (11.9%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 972 (24.8%) people had no formal qualifications. 420 people (10.7%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,650 (42.1%) people were employed full-time, 687 (17.5%) were part-time, and 93 (2.4%) were unemployed.
Economy
Picton's economy is largely influenced by its status as a major transport hub, in addition to servicing tourists and residents in the Queen Charlotte Sound. At the 2018 census, the three largest industries (
ANZSIC divisions) of employment for Picton residents were accommodation and food services, transport postal and warehousing, and retail trade.
Governance
The Picton Borough Council was established in 1876 to govern the town. The borough council was abolished as part of the
1989 local government reforms
The 1989 New Zealand local government reform was the most significant reform of local government in New Zealand in over a century. Some 850 local bodies were amalgamated into 86 local authorities, on Regions of New Zealand, regional and Territo ...
, and Picton became part of the Marlborough District.
For electoral purposes, Picton is part of the Marlborough Sounds ward, which elects three of the council's thirteen councillors.
At the national level, Picton is part of the
Kaikōura
Kaikōura (; ) is a town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand, located on New Zealand State Highway 1, State Highway 1, north of Christchurch. The town has an estimated permanent resident population of as of . Kaikōura is th ...
general electorate and
Te Tai Tonga
Te Tai Tonga () is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorates, Māori electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand New Zealand House of Representatives, House of Representatives. It was established for the 1996 New Zeal ...
Māori electorate.
Marae
Waikawa Marae is located in Picton. It is the ''
marae
A ' (in Māori language, New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian language, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan language, Tongan), ' (in Marquesan language, Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan language, Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves reli ...
'' (meeting ground) of Te Atiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui, and includes the Arapaoa ''
wharenui
A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called ''wikt:wh ...
'' (meeting house).
In October 2020, the Government committed $242,386 from the
Provincial Growth Fund
Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the New Zealand First party.
Jones' political career began 2005 New Zealand general election, in 2005 as a l ...
to upgrade the marae, creating 18 jobs.
Attractions
The town is also the usual starting point for holidays in the
Marlborough Sounds
The Marlborough Sounds (Māori language, te reo Māori: ''Te Tauihu-o-te-Waka'') are an extensive network of ria, sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination ...
. Highlights include fishing, walking, the
Queen Charlotte Track, and diving. A popular dive trip is to the 177-metre long wreck of the cruise liner , which lies at Port Gore, 37 metres underwater. Dive charter boats leave from Picton for the last resting place of the Mikhail Lermontov, one of the world's largest, most accessible and most recent shipwrecks. Guiding is essential as the 1986 wreck is in 30 metres of water and divers can become disoriented inside the hull, which lies on its starboard side.
The completion of the highway link south ended the relative isolation of this scenic area in the 1950s and encouraged modern motels, beginning with the American Luxury Motels, and many more after the ferry service to Wellington began.
Other dive sites in the Picton region include Fish Reserve, the Koi wreck, and Long Island Marine Reserve. Introductory dives (discover
scuba dive) and PADI (
Professional Association of Diving Instructors) certification courses from open water diver to dive master are available from Picton. Technical diving and TDI (
Technical Diving International) courses can be completed in Picton, diving in the Marlborough Sounds.
The Edwin Fox Maritime Centre features the remains of the ''
Edwin Fox'', the only surviving ship that
transported
''Transported'' is an Australian convict melodrama film directed by W. J. Lincoln.
It is considered a lost film.
Plot
In England, Jessie Grey is about to marry Leonard Lincoln but the evil Harold Hawk tries to force her to marry him and she ...
convicts to Australia, and a small museum.
Infrastructure
Transport
State Highway 1 links Picton southwards to
Blenheim,
Kaikōura
Kaikōura (; ) is a town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand, located on New Zealand State Highway 1, State Highway 1, north of Christchurch. The town has an estimated permanent resident population of as of . Kaikōura is th ...
,
Christchurch
Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
and beyond, while the scenic Queen Charlotte Drive (shorter in distance but usually slower than via State Highways 1, 62 and 6) winds westward to
Havelock.

The
Main North Line railway opened on 17 November 1875 between Picton and the
Ōpaoa River just north of Blenheim (the bridge over the river wasn't completed until 1880). The full line south to Kaikōura and on to Christchurch wasn't completed until 15 December 1945. The line's climb from Picton to Elevation Saddle required a steep 1-in-37 (2.7%) grade and a viaduct across the Waitohi River. The original viaduct was the largest wooden structure in the southern hemisphere at the time of its completion and lasted until 1963, when it was replaced by the current concrete and steel structure. The original Picton railway station was located on London Quay; the platform still exists, bisected by the Memorial Archway steps. The current station on Auckland Street was completed in 1914. It is a
standard class B station, of weatherboard and tile, and has been listed
NZHPT Category II since 1991. The
Coastal Pacific
The ''Coastal Pacific'' is a long-distance passenger train that runs between Picton and Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. It is operated by the Great Journeys New Zealand division of KiwiRail. It was called the ''TranzCoast ...
long-distance passenger/tourist train from Christchurch made a daily return trip to Picton during the summer months until its scheduled passenger services were suspended in December 2021. They are scheduled to restart in November 2022.
Roll-on/roll-off
Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...
(RORO) ferries link Picton with Wellington, forming the main link between the North and South Islands across
Cook Strait
Cook Strait () is a strait that separates the North Island, North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, ...
. The two main shipping companies operating this route are the
Interislander
Interislander is a road and rail ferry service across New Zealand's Cook Strait, between Wellington in the North Island and Picton, New Zealand, Picton in the South Island. It is owned and operated by state-owned rail operator KiwiRail. Three ...
and
StraitNZ, with both taking passenger and road vehicles and, for the Interislander on one ferry, rail wagons. There have been proposals in recent years (the latest in 2011) to relocate the ferry terminals from Picton to
Clifford Bay, south of Blenheim, to reduce travel times. However, these plans never got past the design proposal and were eventually dropped. In 2019, consultation began on a redevelopment of the ferry precinct ahead of Interislander introducing new and larger ferries in 2024. Following the
2023 New Zealand general election
The 2023 New Zealand general election was held on 14 October 2023 to determine the composition of the 54th New Zealand Parliament, 54th Parliament of New Zealand. Voters elected 122 members to the unicameral New Zealand House of Representatives ...
, the ferry replacement project and its associated terminal redevelopments were cancelled by the incoming
Sixth National Government. The Interislander terminal building originally built in the 1960s was demolished in 2024.
Cruise ships regularly visit Picton between October and April. During the 2018–19 season, 44 ships carrying 85,000 passengers visited Picton.
Picton Aerodrome at
Koromiko to the south of the town has regular services to Wellington with
Sounds Air and charter flights around the Marlborough Sounds.
Electricity
The Picton Borough Council established the town's first electricity supply in September 1917. Electricity was generated by a
Pelton wheel
The Pelton wheel or Pelton Turbine is an Impulse (physics), 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 w ...
on the Waitohi River, which was later supplemented by suction gas engines, and was reticulated to customers using a 230/460-volt three-wire DC system. The Marlborough Electric Power Board (MEPB) took control of the town supply in 1947. Between 1947 and 1950, the town was re-reticulated with the national standard of 230/400 volts three-phase AC, and a 33,000-volt line was built from Picton to Springlands in Blenheim to connect the town with the rest of the MEPB's distribution network.
Today,
Marlborough Lines (the successor to the MEPB) owns and operates the distribution network in Picton and the wider Marlborough region.
Water supply and sanitation
Picton's main water supply is from a bore at Speeds Road in Koromiko; during high demand, this is supplemented by a stream-fed supply in Essons Valley. The average daily water demand in the town is , with demand in summer peaking at .
Prior to the commissioning of the Picton wastewater treatment plant in 1999, all the town's sewage was discharge raw into Queen Charlotte Sound. The town's wastewater system was upgraded in 2017, with a replacement main along Waikawa Road between Waikawa and central Picton and a bypass treatment plant to treat excess sewage that can't be processed at the main treatment plant.
Education
The first school in Picton opened in 1861 at the corner of Devon Street and Broadway. A new school opened in 1882, and part of the old school was moved to the new site, but was destroyed by fire in 1928. A Catholic Convent school opened in 1915, and was replaced by St Joseph's in 1924. St Joseph's closed in 2017 due to a declining school roll.
There was no secondary education provision (Years 9 to 13) in Picton prior to 1965, with secondary school students from Picton commuted to Marlborough College in Blenheim (split into
Marlborough Boys' College and
Marlborough Girls' College in 1963). Queen Charlotte College opened to serve the town in 1965, while also taking over the town's intermediate school provision (Years 7 and 8) from Picton and Waikawa Bay schools.
Today, Picton has three schools:
* Picton School is a state contributing primary (Year 1 to 6) school with a roll of approximately students.
* Queen Charlotte College is a state Year 7 to 13 secondary school. It has a roll of approximately students.
* Waikawa Bay School is a state contributing primary (Year 1 to 6) school in Waikawa with a roll of approximately students.
Media
Seven Blenheim FM radio stations (
The Hits
The Hits was a music video Television channel, channel broadcast in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, owned by Box Television. On 15 August 2008 it was rebranded as 4Music.
Overview and availability
The channel showcased a ra ...
,
Life FM,
Magic,
More FM,
The Breeze,
Rhema
''Rhema'' (ῥῆμα in Greek) literally means an "utterance" or "thing said" in Greek. It is a word that signifies the action of utterance.
In philosophy, it was used by both Plato and Aristotle to refer to propositions or sentences.
In Chr ...
, and Brian FM) are rebroadcast in Picton via a relay transmitter atop Mount Freeth west of the town. The town can also receive AM radio broadcasts from Wellington.
A private television translator was built in 1964 on Mount Freeth west of the town, relaying WNTV1 (now part of
TVNZ 1
TVNZ 1 () is the first national television channel owned and operated by the state-owned broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ). It is the oldest television broadcaster in New Zealand, starting out from 1960 as independent channels in the ...
) from Wellington. The translator was taken over by BCNZ in 1975 and upgraded to relay colour transmissions (introduced in 1973) and a second channel, Television Two (now
TVNZ 2
TVNZ 2 () is the second New Zealand television channel owned and operated by the state-owned broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ). It targets a younger audience than its sister channel, TVNZ 1. TVNZ 2's line up consists of dramas, comedie ...
).
The translator was decommissioned after
analogue switch-off
The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover (DSO), the analogue switch/sign-off (ASO), the digital migration, or the analogue shutdown, is the process in which older Analog television, analogue television broadcasting ...
in April 2013. Since then, television in Picton is broadcast exclusively via satellite (
Freeview or
Sky
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...
).
Notable people
*
Judith Adams – Australian politician
*
Lance Cairns –
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are cons ...
for the
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand national cricket team represents New Zealand in men's international cricket. Nicknamed the Black Caps (), they played their first Test in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. ...
*
Chris Cairns
Christopher Lance Cairns (born 13 June 1970) is a former New Zealand cricketer and former ODI captain, who played for the New Zealand cricket team as an all-rounder. Cairns finished his Test career with a batting average of 33.53 and a bowling ...
– Cricketer
*
Kip Colvey – Professional footballer with
Colorado Rapids
The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...
and the
New Zealand men's national football team
The New Zealand men's national football team () represents New Zealand in men's international Association football, football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Football (NZF), whic ...
*
Bruno Julio Dalliessi – Elected mayor in 1966, heavyweight boxing champion in 1955 and 1957, footballer with
Marlborough Rugby Union
Marlborough Rugby Union was a New Zealand rugby union team that played from 1888 until 2005 when they merged with the neighbouring Nelson Bays Rugby Union to become the Tasman Rugby Union.
Marlborough was founded in 1888 and played at Lansdown ...
*
Nigel Hutchinson – Film producer and television commercial director
*
Tony Johnson – New Zealand rugby broadcaster
*
Nelle Scanlan – Best-selling New Zealand novelist of the 1930s
*
Joseph Sullivan – Double Sculls Gold Medalist at the
London 2012 Olympic Games
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
*
William Henry Woodgate – Last person hanged in Marlborough
See also
*
StraitNZ
References
External links
Picton – official site1901 photo of harbour and railway
{{Marlborough Region
Populated places in the Marlborough District
Ports and harbours of New Zealand
Former provincial capitals of New Zealand
Marlborough Sounds
Cook Strait Ferry
Populated places in the Marlborough Sounds