Hoon Hay

Hoon Hay
The 2017 Port Hills fires as viewed from Hoon Hay
The 2017 Port Hills fires as viewed from Hoon Hay
Map
Coordinates: 43°34′0″S 172°36′30″E / 43.56667°S 172.60833°E / -43.56667; 172.60833
CountryNew Zealand
CityChristchurch
Local authorityChristchurch City Council
Electoral ward
  • Spreydon
  • Cashmere[1]
Community board
  • Waipuna Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton
  • Waihoro Spreydon-Cashmere-Heathcote
Area
 • Land425 ha (1,050 acres)
Population
 (June 2024)[3]
 • Total9,510
Hillmorton Spreydon Barrington
Aidanfield
Hoon Hay
Somerfield
Halswell Westmorland Cashmere

Hoon Hay is an outer suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, located at the base of the Port Hills and about 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) southwest of Cathedral Square. The area was named by Captain Wickham Talbot Harvey, a captain of the British Royal 10th Hussars, who moved to the area in 1852 and named it after the farm in Hoon, Derbyshire where he grew up.[4] Harvey only stayed in the area for four years, before a fire destroyed his property and prompted him to return to the United Kingdom. Further fires in the following years destroyed the woodland which was on the property, including several large tōtara, causing it to be converted into farmland. [5] Remnants of this forest remain visible in the area, including with tree stumps being discovered during flood mitigation work on the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River.[6]

Hoon Hay maintains aspects of both a rural and suburban surrounding. It is bordered by the suburbs of Hillmorton and Spreydon to the north, Somerfield and Cashmere to the east and Halswell to the southwest, along with new developments in the adjacent Port Hills. Despite this, the suburb is also bordered by farmland and the nearby Hoon Hay valley, maintaining the suburb as semi-rural. The Cashmere Stream, a tributary of the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River, flows down the valley and through the suburb.

  1. ^ "Wards, Councillors and Community Boards map". ccc.govt.nz. Christchurch City Council. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Area was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Aotearoa Data Explorer". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Wickham Talbot Harvey" (PDF). www.foncc.org.uk. Friends of Newport & Carisbrooke Cemeteries. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  5. ^ "HOON HAY – Captain Wickham Talbot Harvey (1829 – 1889)". Peeling Back History. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Flood work draws stumps from ancient Hoon Hay forest". newsline.ccc.govt.nz. Christchurch City Council. Retrieved 22 August 2020.