Barrytown (originally known as Seventeen Mile Beach and Fosbery) is a town in the
West Coast region of New Zealand's
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasma ...
. Barrytown sits on and is north of
Runanga, on the
Barrytown Flats.
Punakaiki
Punakaiki is a small village on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located between Westport and Greymouth on , the only through-road on the West Coast. Punakaiki is immediately adjacent to Paparoa National Park, and is als ...
is further north. The town is near the southern end of Pakiroa Beach. The Māori name for the region is Paparoa.
History
The land is originally
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 ...
, and the local
hapū
In Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or " clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally ope ...
is Ngāti Waewae of the
iwi
Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori culture, Māori society. In Māori-language, Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and ...
Ngāi Tahu
Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim), Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Poi ...
. Pakiroa Beach along the
Barrytown Flats was an important food source for local Māori, and middens of
tuatua
''Paphies subtriangulata'' is a species of edible bivalve clam known as tuatua in the Māori language, a member of the family Mesodesmatidae and endemic to New Zealand. It is found on all three of the main New Zealand islands, buried in fine cle ...
shells attributed to the iwi
Waitaha have been dated to 1500 AD.
A gold rush in the 1860s led to workings at Seventeen Mile Beach and Canoe Creek, and by 1879 about 2000 miners were living in the area.
In 1880 the township serving the miners was officially named "Fosebery" and a post office opened. The following year, however, a government opinion poll of residents and miners was held to choose between Fosbery and Barrytown. The 130 votes were unanimous for Barrytown.
By 1895, Barrytown had a Catholic church, a state school, two lodging-houses (Luis's and Cargill's), a smithy, and the All Nations Hotel. The two general stores, one including and butchery and bakery, were established in 1870 and 1879. The post office dispatched mail twice a week. By 1901 the population had dropped to 64, with an additional 60 people in the surrounding area.
Demographics
According to the
2013 New Zealand census
The 2013 New Zealand census was the thirty-third national census. "The National Census Day" used for the census was on Tuesday, 5 March 2013. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,242,048, – an increase of 214,101 or 5.3% over the 200 ...
, Barrytown and its surrounds (covering 195 square kilometres) had a population of 237, an increase of 12 people since the 2006 census.
The 2018 statistical area of Barrytown, which covers 731 square kilometres, had a population of 939 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 sh ...
, an increase of 30 people (3.3%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 21 people (2.3%) since the
2006 census. There were 411 households. There were 492 males and 450 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.09 males per female. The median age was 48.8 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 150 people (16.0%) aged under 15 years, 120 (12.8%) aged 15 to 29, 525 (55.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 147 (15.7%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 93.6% European/Pākehā, 9.6% Māori, 1.9% Pacific peoples, 2.2% Asian, and 2.9% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).
The proportion of people born overseas was 11.2%, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people objected to giving their religion, 58.8% had no religion, 26.5% were Christian, 0.3% were Hindu, 0.6% were Muslim and 2.9% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 84 (10.6%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 168 (21.3%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $26,500, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 384 (48.7%) people were employed full-time, 138 (17.5%) were part-time, and 39 (4.9%) were unemployed.
Economy and culture

Barrytown is a hub for arts and crafts, including stone carving and knife making.
All Nations Hotel
The Barrytown hotel was built in 1879, and taken over by Thomas Burns in 1884. It had seven bedrooms, and an additional building that slept 10. It was notable for its
billiard room with an
Alcock table.
The hotel is still in operation today.
Barrytown Settlers Hall
Built in 1929, the Barrytown Settlers Hall is a well-known music venue and has been hosting gigs since 1972. International and local bands touring New Zealand often perform there include
Blerta,
Trinity Roots
TrinityRoots (1998–2005, 2011–present) are a band based in Wellington, New Zealand. Although they are commonly associated with New Zealand reggae they also embody a stripped back, jazz and soul-influenced rhythmic sound, which often ...
, the New Zealand Guitar Quartet, Karen Pfeiffer, Scott Cook and The Kugels,
The Mint Chicks
The Mint Chicks were a New Zealand noise rock/art punk group (the band began to refer to their style of music as "troublegum" and have been referred to as anything from neo-punk to schizo-pop to the only half-serious genre definition of shit-gaz ...
,
Bad Manners and
Don McGlashan
Donald McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who Is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for ...
. There have been as many as 25 events per year. In 2017, a crowdsourcing campaign (through 'Give a Little') was started to fund the soundproofing of the hall following resident complaints about noise.
Barrytown Flats
The town is located near the southern end of a 17 km (11 mi) coastal plain known as the
Barrytown Flats. The sands were extensively
sluiced
Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...
and
dredged
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
for gold from the 1860s. The drier areas of the flats have been converted into pasture, but significant areas of forest remain, including
Nikau Scenic Reserve. The flats are bordered by
Paparoa National Park
Paparoa National Park is on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
The park was established in 1987 and encompasses 430 km2 (166 sq mi). The park ranges from on or near the coastline to the peaks of the Paparoa Range. A sepa ...
and the only breeding site of the Westland petrel (''
Procellaria westlandica
The Westland petrel (''Procellaria westlandica''), (Māori: ''tāiko''), also known as the Westland black petrel, is a moderately large seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae, that is endemic to New Zealand. Described by Robert Falla in 194 ...
''). There are significant deposits of
ilmenite
Ilmenite is a titanium-iron oxide mineral with the idealized formula . It is a weakly magnetic black or steel-gray solid. Ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium and the main source of titanium dioxide, which is used in paints, printing ...
(titanium dioxide) in the Barrytown sands, and there have been several mining proposals, but the possible environmental consequences have been contentious.
Education
The first school was built in the early 1880s after an inspector for the Westland Education Board visited Barrytown and determined there were 57 children of school age. The Central Board recommended that a school be built and a school committee established.
Barrytown School is a coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school with a roll of students as of
References
{{Grey District
Grey District
Populated places in the West Coast, New Zealand