Napier Hill | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Port of Napier as seen from Bluff Hill. | |
 | |
| Coordinates: 39°28′47″S 176°54′38″E / 39.479749°S 176.910528°E | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| City | Napier |
| Local authority | Napier City Council |
| Electoral ward | Ahuriri Ward |
| Area | |
| • Land | 339 ha (838 acres) |
| Population (June 2024)[2] | |
| • Total | 5,820 |
| Ahuriri | (Hawke Bay) | Napier Port |
| Pandora |
  Napier Hill  |
(Hawke Bay) |
| Onekawa | Central Napier |
Napier Hill (Māori: Mataruahou) is a limestone outcrop and suburb rising above the lowland districts of the city of Napier on New Zealand's North Island.[3]
The north-east end, Bluff Hill, has a steep cliff face overlooking the Port of Napier. It features Napier Girls' High School, the historic former Napier Prison and a scenic walk.[4]
The western end, Hospital Hill, was the site of the former Napier Hospital, whose services were transferred to Hawke's Bay Hospital in Hastings in 1999.[5] The building was demolished in 2015 after years of sitting derelict and the land has recently been purchased (December 2020) by the Napier City Council to be developed for use as a new reservoir to replace the current ageing water source on Enfield Road.[6] European settlement on the hill began in 1855.[7] Most homes on the hill were built in the 1920s.[8]
Napier Botanical Gardens were established in the 1860s, and were for a long time the only public park in the city.[9]
Prior to the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, the hill was almost surrounded with water, with just two shingle spits running north and south, and was known as Scinde Island. The earthquake raised the Napier area and the sea receded from around the island and the spits.[3] Scinde Island was named after the province of Sindh, then in India and now in Pakistan.[10][7] The Napier soccer club Scindians derived their name from Scinde Island.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Areawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Aotearoa Data Explorer". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- ^ a b "Round the Hill Walk". Napier City Council. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
- ^ "Bluff Hill". napier.govt.nz. Napier City Council.
- ^ "Hawkes Bay Hospital". www.cityofnapier.co.nz. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- ^ "New site on Mataruahou (Napier Hill) for drinking water reservoir". napier.govt.nz. 18 December 2020.
- ^ a b Fowler, Michael. "The day part of Bluff Hill broke off". Hawke's Bay Today. New Zealand Media and Entertainment.
- ^ "Napier Hill, Napier City". OneRoof.co.nz. New Zealand Media and Entertainment.
- ^ "Botanical Gardens and other Napier gardens – Botanical Gardens Early History". Napier City Council. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
- ^ "Early history of Napier". Napier City Council. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2012.