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Raglan ( or ) is a small beachside town located west of
Hamilton, New Zealand Hamilton (, ) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato, Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's List of c ...
on
State Highway 23 Route 23, or Highway 23, can refer to: International *European route E23 Australia * Federal Highway (Australia) * Monaro Highway * (South Australia) * Dorat Road (not signed everywhere) Austria * Autobahn Südosttangente Wien Canada * Albe ...
. It is known for its surfing, and volcanic black sand beaches.


History

The Ngāti Māhanga iwi occupied the area around Raglan in the late 18th century. There are at least 81 archaeological sites in the area, mainly near the coast. Limited radiocarbon dating puts the earliest sites at about 1400AD. The
Māori people Māori () are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of Māori migration canoes, c ...
named the site ("the long pursuit"). One tradition says that
Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka (canoe), waka confederation of New Zealand Māori people, Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki Māori, Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapo ...
priest, Rakataura, crossed Whāingaroa on his way to Kāwhia. Another says it was among the places the early
Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori people, Māori iwi and hapū (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the ''Arawa (canoe), Arawa'' migration canoe (''waka''). The tribes are based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plent ...
explorer,
Kahumatamomoe Kahumatamomoe (Kahu for short) was a Māori rangatira (chief) in the Te Arawa confederation of tribes. He undertook several exploratory journeys around the upper North Island of New Zealand on his own and with his nephew Īhenga. Lake Rotorua's ...
, with his nephew
Īhenga Īhenga was an early Māori people, Māori explorer and rangatira of Te Arawa. After burying his father at Moehau, he travelled to Maketu to be purified by his uncle Kahumatamomoe, whose daughter he married. He explored the North Island and name ...
, visited on their expedition from
Maketū Maketu is a small town on the Western Bay of Plenty coast in New Zealand. It is located roughly from Paengaroa, from Te Puke, from Tauranga, from Rotorua and from Whakatane. Maketu has an estuary from which the Kaituna River used to flow ...
. The first Europeans to settle in the area, the Rev
James and Mary Wallis James and Mary Wallis were Wesleyanism, Wesleyan missionaries and the first European Settlers in Raglan, New Zealand. Early years and journey to New Zealand Born on 18 April 1809 in Blackwall, London, James Wallis felt the call to ministry a ...
, Wesleyan missionaries, were embraced and welcomed by local Māori in 1835. European settlement, including large scale conversion of land to pasture, began in the mid-1850s after a large sale of land by Chief
Wiremu Neera Te Awaitaia Wiremu Neera Te Awaitaia (c.1796 – 27 April 1866) was a Māori people, Māori chief in New Zealand during first contact with European traders, the 1820s Musket Wars up to the 1860s New Zealand Wars. Born in or around 1796 into the Waikato ...
. The name "Raglan", adopted in 1858, honours
Fitzroy Somerset, 1st Lord Raglan Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, (30 September 1788 – 28 June 1855), known before 1852 as Lord FitzRoy Somerset, was a British Army officer. When a junior officer, he served in the ...
(1788–1855), who had commanded the British forces in the
Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
of 1853–1856. The Raglan economy initially featured
flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...
and timber exports, followed by farming which remains the mainstay of the area. Raglan's first coach link to Hamilton began in 1880 and a telegraph wire was put up beside the road in 1884. In 1904 Raglan was linked to Hamilton telephone exchange. Mains electricity came in 1935 and a sewage scheme in 1977. Tourism and the arts are significant contributors to the current economy. Raglan and District Museum/ Te Whare Taonga o Whāingaroa contains historic artefacts and archives from the region. A new museum building was built in 2011. Additionally, the Raglan and District Museum's online collection can be accesse
here


Traffic

A government subsidy was given in 1878, to promote the start of regular steamer services from
Manukau Harbour The Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and opens out into the Tasman Sea. Geography The harbour mouth is between the northern head ("Burnett ...
, which took about 8 hours. Until the main road was
metalled A road surface (British English) or pavement (North 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, macadam, ho ...
in 1921, most goods travelled by sea. The wharf remained important until the 1950s, peaking in 1954, with 15,462 tons, handled by 38 ships. One of the problems was the shallow
bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...
at the entrance to the harbour. For example, the ''Holmburn'' was stuck there for 26 hours in 1962. However, like other small ports, the main problem was the introduction of the inter-island roll-on roll-off ferries in 1962, with 40 Watersiders Union members made redundant in 1972, though cement volumes increased to a peak of 41,351 tons in 1974. Again the bar was a problem for the larger cement ships and, since ''John Wilson'' (1961-85 long, wide, deep, 1679 Grt) made the last call on 7 July 1982, the only goods landed at the harbour have been fish from the fishing boats.


Wharves

Until 1874 goods were transferred off the beach below Cliff Street and small boats moored in a boat harbour, cut off from the harbour by construction of a sluice-gate under Wallis Street causeway in about 1918. The new road gave access to a new dairy factory and the wharf opened in 1921. A small wooden jetty and storage shed beside Cliff Street was built in 1874. That was replaced by a stone jetty about to the west in 1881, which remains in place at the foot of the main street. A 250yd wooden pier was built in 1889 to the east at the end of James Street, enabling the larger Northern Steamship vessels to moor in deep water, beside a larger storage shed. Two totara piles remain from that Long Wharf, which was replaced by the current concrete wharf, opened in 1921. The wharf was enlarged for construction of a cement silo for Golden Bay Cement in 1967 and a further silo was built in 1973. Cement was supplied for the construction of
Huntly power station The Huntly Power Station is the largest thermal power station in New Zealand and is located in the town of Huntly in the Waikato. It is operated by Genesis Energy Limited, a publicly listed company (currently 51% owned by the NZ Government). Th ...
and the
Kaimai tunnel The Kaimai Tunnel is a railway tunnel through the Kaimai Range in the North Island of New Zealand. Since it was opened in 1978, it has held the title of longest tunnel, at , in New Zealand, assuming this distinction from the previous title ho ...
. A fire destroyed the 1921 shed in 2010. A pontoon was added to the east side of the wharf in 2023 as part of a $2.5m Provincial Growth scheme and steps on the other side, with an additional $3.2m of Better Off funding.


Airfield

The town became the scene of public
civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizenship, citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be cal ...
campaigns in the 1970s. In 1941, during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
(1939–1945), the New Zealand Government took local ancestral land from
indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
Māori owners to construct a
military airfield An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...
. When no longer required for defence purposes, part of the land, a block, was not returned to the owners, but instead was transferred to Raglan County Council in 1953 and became the public Raglan golf-course in 1968. There ensued widespread protest and attempts to reoccupy the land; in 1978, 20 Māori protesters were arrested on the ninth hole of the golf course. The land was eventually returned to the owners. 150 people were involved in the protest. It became a focus for local job-training and employment programs, as well as for the Māori sovereignty movement. In 2021 the council suggested return of the rest of the land could still "take a number of years". Fencing of the airfield in 2021 halved its width and resulted in a petition to close it. On August 21, 2022, local councillors unanimously voted to begin the process of returning the airfield land to its original Māori owners.


Local government

Raglan Highway Board existed from 1868 and merged with the Karioi Board between 1888 and 1892. Raglan Town Board started in 1878 and merged with the highways boards into Raglan County Council in 1889. It was re-inaugurated as Raglan
Town Board A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counci ...
in 1906 and continued until 1938, when the Board again merged into the County Council. In 1954 Raglan became a county township, administered by a committee of 7 under the jurisdiction of the county council. On 26 March 1957 Raglan Town Committee resigned due to the unsympathetic attitude of the council. Within a month more than 100 ratepayers had petitioned the Governor-General to establish a town board. The Local Government Act 1974 brought about Raglan Community Council, which was replaced by Raglan Community Board in 1989, when
Waikato District Council Waikato District Council () is the territorial authority for the Waikato District of New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the S ...
was formed.


Demographics

In 1859, the local magistrate, F. D. Fenton, reported the population of Whāingaroa as 424. That was the number shown in the 1858 census for the Ngāti Mahanga population of Raglan. That accords with
Ferdinand von Hochstetter Christian Gottlieb Ferdinand Ritter von Hochstetter (30 April 1829 – 18 July 1884) was a Germany, German-Austrians, Austrian geologist. In 1857 he was appointed geologist on the Austrian Novara expedition to New Zealand, collecting natural his ...
's account of his 1859 tour, when he said that the Māori population was estimated at 400 and said that he had been told there were 122 Europeans, including 20 farmer-families. Hochstetter said there were six or eight houses, with a tavern and a store in Raglan and a Māori village and an old pā at Horea on the north shore. Many of the Europeans were evacuated in 1860 and again in 1863, when
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
threatened and it was said 95 inhabitants remained. After that, as the graph below shows, Raglan's population recovered slowly until the main road from Hamilton was completely metalled in 1921 and then grew again after completion of tar-sealing in 1961. The population of the Raglan ward (covering most of the harbour catchment area) was 4680 in 2006. It had increased to 4920 in 2013. Raglan covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Raglan had a population of 3,717 in the
2023 New Zealand census The 2023 New Zealand census, which took place on 7 March 2023, was the thirty-fifth national census in New Zealand. It implemented measures that aimed to increase the Census' effectiveness in response to the issues faced with the 2018 census, i ...
, an increase of 390 people (11.7%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 960 people (34.8%) since the 2013 census. There were 1,785 males, 1,917 females and 15 people of other genders in 1,416 dwellings. 3.1% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 41.2 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 741 people (19.9%) aged under 15 years, 495 (13.3%) aged 15 to 29, 1,824 (49.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 657 (17.7%) aged 65 or older. People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 84.6%
European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...
(
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 ...
); 24.8%
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 ...
; 2.7% Pasifika; 3.4% Asian; 2.4% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.5% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 96.9%, Māori language by 8.7%, and other languages by 12.3%. No language could be spoken by 2.2% (e.g. too young to talk).
New Zealand Sign Language New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL () is the main language of the deaf community in New Zealand. It became an official language of New Zealand in April 2006 under the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006. The purpose of the act was to create rights ...
was known by 0.5%. The percentage of people born overseas was 23.2, compared with 28.8% nationally. Religious affiliations were 23.0%
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 ...
, 0.3%
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%
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, 1.0%
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 ...
, 0.7%
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 ...
, 1.0%
New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
, 0.2%
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, and 1.7% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 65.5%, and 6.8% of people did not answer the census question. Of those at least 15 years old, 999 (33.6%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 1,386 (46.6%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 588 (19.8%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $36,600, compared with $41,500 nationally. 369 people (12.4%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,353 (45.5%) people were employed full-time, 567 (19.1%) were part-time, and 90 (3.0%) were unemployed. Growth by about 500 households is expected by 2045 and to 12,500 by 2070, with several new suburbs. Property prices have risen sharply since 2000, for example by 49.6% from 2014 to 2017 and a further 42% to 2020. That coincides with a decline in the Māori proportion of the population – By 2018 there were 6 fewer unoccupied private dwellings at 471, but those occupied had increased to 1,275. Employment and commuting increased between 2006 and 2013, as shown in this table.


Marae

Raglan has several
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 ...
within , affiliated with
hapū In Māori language, 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 ...
of
Waikato Tainui Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori ''iwi'' based in the Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zeal ...
: * Poihākena Marae and Tainui a Whiro meeting house is a meeting place for
Ngāti Tāhinga Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori ''iwi'' based in the Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zeal ...
and Tainui hapū * Te Kōpua Marae is a meeting place of Tainui hapū and does not have a meeting house, as it was destroyed on 12 August 1941 to create the airfield * Te Kaharoa or Aramiro Marae and Te Kaharoa meeting house is a meeting place of Ngāti Māhanga and Ngāti Tamainupō, near the head of the Waitetuna valley The hapū of Ngāti Tamainupō also have a meeting place, Mai Uenuku ki te Whenua Marae, in the inner harbour, between
Te Uku Te Uku is a small, mainly farming, settlement on New Zealand State Highway 23, SH23 in the North Island of New Zealand, located from Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton and from Raglan, New Zealand, Raglan. It has a Four Square (supermarket), 4-S ...
and Waingaro. In 2018, it produced a local history book about prominent Waikato chief
Ngaere Ngaere is a village situated on State Highway 3, south of Stratford, New Zealand. The name "Ngaere" means "swamp" in English, and before settlement, the area was covered by a vast and ancient wetland. Attractions Ngaere Gardens, which once ...
and how Ngāruawāhia and the Hakarimata Ranges were named in the late 1600s. In October 2020, the Government committed $414,300 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 Mai Uenuku ki te Whenua Marae, creating 8 jobs.


Geography

Raglan is associated with Whāingaroa Harbour (also known as Raglan Harbour) on the west coast of the
Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...
region in New Zealand's
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 harbour
catchment A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, th ...
extends as far north as Glen Afton, covers and the harbour covers and has , , or , of coastline. It runs 12 km inland from the entrance, for the most part is less than 2 km wide, has a high-tide area of , a low-tide area of , 2–4 m tidal range, with a spring-tide range of 2.8 m and neap 1.8 m, spring tide flow around 46 x 106 m3 and neap 29 x 106 m3. A 2005 survey said on average water stays in the harbour 1.1 days at spring-tides,Whaingaroa (Raglan) Harbour: sedimentation rates and the effects of historical catchment landcover changes A. Swales, R. Ovenden, M.S. McGlone, N. Hermanspahn, R. Budd, M.J. Okey, J. Hawken, Landcare Research Ltd 200
http://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/PageFiles/3585/tr05-36.pdf
/ref> but a 2015 study showed a median residence time for whole estuary of 39.4 days with median river flows, ranging between 18 and 45 days. It is the northernmost of three large inlets in the Waikato coast (the others, also drowned river valleys, are
Aotea Harbour Aotea Harbour () 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 south, 30 kilom ...
and
Kawhia Harbour Kawhia Harbour () 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 southwest of Hamilton, Ne ...
). 15 significant rivers and streams run into the harbour, including the largest, Waingaro and Waitetuna, accounting for 60% of catchment area, and the smaller Opotoru and Tawatahi rivers. Total length of the streams is . A study for Regional Council said, "Whāingaroa Harbour began to fill with sediment at least 8000 years before present (B.P.) and before the sea had reached its present level 6500 years B.P. Rapid sedimentation in the harbour before 6500 years B.P. is attributed to the formation of now
relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...
intertidal shore platforms up to 700-m wide and ≤10 m below present-day mean high water level. These coastal landforms were rapidly formed 8000-6500 years B.P. by physical weathering of soft
mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from ''shale'' by its lack of fissility.Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology.'' New York, New York, ...
cliffs and wave action. Consequently, all but the upper two metres of the present day sediment column was deposited before 6000 years B.P. and thousands of years before the arrival of Maori some 700 years ago. Today, the harbour has largely infilled with catchment sediment up to ~8-m thick, with 70% of its high tide surface area being intertidal." It concluded that most sediment is now swept up to 20 km out to sea. 70% of the land in the harbour catchment is used for farming, 20% of it is under
native vegetation In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...
, 14% under forestry, 7%
mānuka Mānuka (; ''Leptospermum scoparium'') is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family (biology), family Myrtaceae, native to New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands) and south-east Australia. Bees produce mānuka honey from its necta ...
/
kānuka ''Kunzea ericoides'', commonly known as kānuka or white tea-tree, is a tree or shrub in the myrtle Family (biology), family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New Zealand. It has white or pink flowers similar to those of ''Leptospermum'' and from its ...
and 0.3% wetlands. 68% of land has slopes greater than 1 in 4. Southwest of the township stands the extinct volcano of Mt Karioi. According to
Māori legend 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 ...
Karioi was a jilted Māori Princess who, upon discovering that love was lost, lay down and rests. North of the harbour mouth there are extensive dunes and dune-dammed
lakes A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...
. Like the beaches, the dunes are rich in
ironsand Ironsand, also known as iron-sand or iron sand, is a type of sand with heavy concentrations of iron. It is typically dark grey or blackish in color. It is composed mainly of magnetite, Fe3O4, and also contains small amounts of titanium, silica ...
and have been considered for mining several times. Threats of
seabed mining Seabed mining, also known as seafloor mining is the recovery of minerals from the seabed by techniques of underwater mining. The concept includes mining at shallow depths on the continental shelf and deep-sea mining at greater depths associated w ...
following passage of the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 resulted in formation of the opposition group KASM, based in Raglan (see also
Mining in New Zealand Mining in New Zealand began when the Māori people, Māori quarried rock such as argillite in times prior to European colonisation. Mining by Europeans began in the latter half of the 19th century. New Zealand has abundant resources of coal, sil ...
and
Sand mining Sand mining is the extraction of sand, mainly through an open pit (or sand pit) but sometimes mined from beaches and inland dunes or dredged from ocean and river beds. Sand is often used in manufacturing, for example as an abrasive or in conc ...
). The area is also home to the popular tourist destination, Bridal Veil Falls, which is located 20 kilometres southeast of the township and the unusual Lake Disappear 4 km further on.


Suburbs


Raglan East

Raglan East was Raglan's first suburb. It was formed after Henry Chamberlin sold his estate in 1863.


Raglan West

Raglan West developed after the farm containing the site of the Wesleyan Nihinihi mission station (see History above) was surveyed between 1940 and 1952.


Rangitahi

Rangitahi was the name of a farm. A concrete bridge from Raglan West replaced a tidal causeway in 2019 and work started on developing 259 residential lots. Over 550 houses are being built in stages on .


Climate

Average annual rainfall at Raglan 1984–2004 was 1.354m a year. Average temperature and rainfall graphs show an average high of 24C in February and an average low of 8C in July. Raglan usually has no more than a degree of frost and then only for a few hours on occasional winter mornings.


Education

Raglan Area School is a co-educational state composite school covering years 1 to 13, with a roll of as of There have been schools at Raglan since 1866. The current school opened as Raglan District High School in 1937. There are also primary schools in the nearby settlements of Te Mata,
Te Uku Te Uku is a small, mainly farming, settlement on New Zealand State Highway 23, SH23 in the North Island of New Zealand, located from Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton and from Raglan, New Zealand, Raglan. It has a Four Square (supermarket), 4-S ...
and Waitetuna, it is very common in recent years for students to move from the Te Mata, Te Uku and Waitetuna primary schools to RAS when they reach high school due to it being a nearby, bicultural and accepting school full of students that have often already met their contemporaries from Te Mata, Te Uku and Waitetuna.


Culture


Arts

Visual artists hold regular exhibitions at the Raglan Old School Art Centre. Fabric artists show their creations in the biennial ArtoWear competition. There is also a Raglan Arts Trail Guide with an Open Studio Weekend in late January. For
Matariki In Māori culture, Matariki is the Pleiades star cluster and a celebration of its first rising in late June or early July. The rising marks the beginning of the new year in the Māori lunar calendar. Historically, Matariki was usually celebr ...
there are displays of
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 ...
art. Local art is on display in the Show Off Gallery, Kanuka Design, Matapihi Gallery, local cafes and the Raglan Old School Arts Centre. The Arts Centre is in a 19th-century heritage building, the former Raglan School.


Markets

There is a regular market on the second Sunday of every month at the Raglan Old School Arts Centre in Stewart Street. This Raglan Creative Market specialises in local crafts, food and art.


Music

Raglan has a live music scene. The International Soundsplash Eco Reggae Festival ran yearly in summer on the Wainui Reserve, between 2001 and 2008 and more recently, and attracted some of the biggest names in roots, reggae and dub, as well as local acts. The main venue in Raglan for live music was the Yot Club, a regular stop for NZ musicians on national tours until 2024. There is still live music at the Yard, Orca Restaurant and Bar, the Harbour View Hotel, the Raglan Club and The Old School. The
New Zealand reggae New Zealand reggae is the New Zealand variation of the musical genre reggae. It is a large and well established part of New Zealand music, and includes some of the country's most successful and highly acclaimed bands. History Reggae bands in Ne ...
bands
Cornerstone Roots A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time a ...
and Zionhill were formed in Raglan.


Recreation


Surfing

Raglan is best known for its surf. Eight kilometres from the Raglan township is a series of surf breaks including Indicators, Whale Bay, Manu Bay, Vortex Bay. Manu Bay was featured in the 1966 movie ''
The Endless Summer ''The Endless Summer'' is a 1966 American surf movie, surf documentary film directed, produced, edited and narrated by Bruce Brown (director), Bruce Brown. The film follows surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August on a surfing trip around the wor ...
'' and in the 2010 movie '' Last Paradise''. The traditional name for Manu Bay is 'Waikeri', meaning surging or swirling waters. The former native reserve was bought for a recreation reserve in 1971. Indicators is a left hand point break that breaks for up to 600m, from 2 to 10 feet+ (Hawaiian scale). It is a long-walled, fast wave with occasional barrels, particularly on the low tide. It picks up a lot of swell and is very consistent. On big days the wave can link up with the next break called Whale Bay. Whale Bay is a left hand point break that breaks up to 200m in length, from about 2 to 8 feet+. It has two sections, an inside hollow section up to about 4 feet that breaks very close to the rocks, and an outside, slower section from 4 feet up. It has been rumoured by locals to link up with the next break further down-Manu Point-but only on very large swells, making a potential ride of up to 2 km from the top of Indicators, which locals say has only been achieved once. Manu Bay is a left hand point break which works from 2 to 10 feet+, breaking over 300m. It has alternate hollow and wall sections, occasional barrels, and is usually about 2/3 the size of Indicators. Vortex Bay is a soft peak east of the boat ramp that sometimes breaks on low tide when the swell is too large for the main three points. There is also a beach break further down from Manu Point. Ruapuke is another beach break well to the west around the point. Raglan has hosted a world championship surfing event at
Manu Bay Raglan ( or ) is a small beachside town located west of Hamilton, New Zealand on New Zealand State Highway 23, State Highway 23. It is known for its surfing, and volcanic black sand beaches. History The Ngāti Māhanga iwi occupied the ar ...
in 1998. Raglan is also home to New Zealand's first sanctioned surf school, the Raglan Surfing School which was established in 1999.


Walking

Whāingaroa has a variety of walks, from an easy stroll over the footbridge to the more strenuous Mount Karioi tracks. Walking has been a popular activity here since at least 1915, when the guidebook said, "An hour's walk brings one to the harbour entrance and to the sea coast. Here there is a wide sandy beach with a background of bush-covered cliffs, and the picturesque Mount Karioi close at hand" and went on, "Many suitable landing places are to be found where parties may leave the launch for a ramble ashore or may picnic ‘neath the shade of the kowhai trees". (see also Walking trip resources below)


Cycling

Several sections of a Town2Surf cycle lane have been built, which will link the town with Ngarunui Beach, and Te Ara Kākāriki Ocean Trails opened on 3 December 2016, providing about of mountain bike trails in a pine forest on Wainui Reserve. A to bike race, mainly on gravel roads around Mt Karioi, took place each July, from 2009 to 2021 and revived in 2025. About from Raglan, Pipiwharauroa Way has of cycle/walking track, which links to a very difficult paper road to Waitetuna.


Environment

Whāingaroa has a high proportion of
environmentalists Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecologi ...
, as evidenced by the existence of several high-profile environmental groups. The proportion of environmentalists in Raglan is indicated by the size of the
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
vote, which was 28% in 2011 and rose to 30% in 2014 (266 of 867 in the
Taranaki-King Country Taranaki-King Country is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Taranaki-King Country is Barbara Kuriger of the National Party. She has held th ...
constituency vote and 40 of 152 in
Hauraki-Waikato Hauraki-Waikato is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate first established for the . It largely replaced the electorate. Nanaia Mahuta of the Labour Party, formerly the MP for Tainui, became MP for Hauraki-Waikato in the 2008 general ...
). In 2017 it dropped to 20% (433), but the Labour vote rose from 18% to 40% (872), when Labour also highlighted environmental issues. The environmentalism has been recognised in local government policy as, "passionate about the arts and protecting its environment".


Whāingaroa Harbour Care

Whāingaroa Harbour Care planted more than 2 million trees between 1995 and 2024. After discussions in 1994 with the local MP and Minister for the Environment,
Simon Upton Simon David Upton (born 7 February 1958) is a former New Zealand politician and member of Parliament from 1981 to 2001, representing the National Party, and the current Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. Early life Upton was edu ...
, about the poor environmental state of the harbour, a meeting was held on 24 March 1995, leading to the formation of Whāingaroa Harbour Care Incorporated Society in July 1995. A plant nursery was set up on Wainui Reserve to collect eco-sourced (with genes better adapted to local conditions) local seeds, grow them into native trees and plant them densely beside streams, to reduce run-off of nutrients and other pollutants by up to 60%. By 2013 over 40 farmers had fenced and planted about of riparian areas. (see also
Environmental organisations An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements that seeks to protect, analyse or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces. In this sense the environme ...
below)


Recycling

Recycling in Raglan is managed by a non-profit organization called Xtreme Zero Waste. Xtreme's stated goal is to create a
waste management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste, together with monitor ...
system for the Raglan/Whāingaroa community in which none of the waste is stored in landfills. The organization was founded in 2000, after Raglan's landfill closed and the town decided to find an alternative to transporting its waste elsewhere. Xtreme Waste has recycled an increasing volume and percentage of waste every year, and as of 2010, it diverts nearly three-quarters of the town's waste from reaching the landfill.Xtreme Waste page on Prometheus Finance Ltd. website
/ref> It operates a recycling centre, which is open to the publicXtreme Waste homepage
/ref> and offers group tours.Xtreme Waste
page on Sustainable Greenlist Directory
Actor Antonio Te Maioha, who lives in Raglan, has publicly spoken about his own involvement and Raglan's leadership in recycling. He mentioned that Raglan is one of the few towns in New Zealand with recycling bins in the main street, and describes how people he knew became involved in recycling because of Xtreme Waste's programs.


Water supply

Raglan's water supply comes from a well and the nearby Waipatukahu (or Riki) Spring between Te Hutewai Rd and Omahina Creek, about south of Raglan, where water which has sunk into the volcanic rocks, seeps along the contact with the
Tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...
beds. Water is
chlorinated In chemistry, halogenation is a chemical reaction which introduces one or more halogens into a chemical compound. Halide-containing compounds are pervasive, making this type of transformation important, e.g. in the production of polymers, drugs. ...
, pumped to a tank and distributed through about of pipes. Tanks at Bow St () and Cornwall Rd, () maintain pressure. Demand has been forecast at per day by 2034, based on a Waikato University population prediction assuming consumption of /person/day. However, in December 2015 use was averaging a day. The capacity of the spring is per day.
Consent Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, with specific definitions used in such fields as the law, medicine, research, and sexual consent. Consent as understood i ...
allows up to /day (the remainder maintains a flow in the short stream below the spring) from the spring and /day from the well. Despite using less than half the consented water, water meters are planned to be installed and operational by 2017. When last rated Raglan's water got a poor 'Ed' (unsatisfactory level of risk) rating, but work was done in 2014 to upgrade the quality.


History

The spring was long used as a source of fresh water. In 1862 a dam was built and it was used to power an waterwheel for a flaxmill. In the early 1950s the spring was again used to power a water-wheel, this time pumping water for use on the farm.Around Raglan, R. T. Vernon 1981 Several residents had bores drilled, but over half (1000) relied on tank water. A 2½ in. bore behind the Harbour View Hotel had /day rising to about below the surface, though rather hard and tinged with iron. Of its the first 50 ft. was in clay, 4 ft. in hard blue shingle tightly packed with a minimum of sandy matrix and 106 ft in
papa Papa is a word used in many languages as an affectionate term for father. Papa or PAPA may refer to: Geography and geology * Papa, Samoa, a village on the island of Savai'i * Papa, Scotland, various islands * Pápa, a town in Hungary *Papa rock ...
. The deep, 3 in. bore for the dairy factory, 70 ft. above sea-level in Rose St, was polluted with ammoniacal nitrogen and chlorides too were high. As early as 1927 the government was being asked for help with water and sewage. In 1938, ratepayers petitioned the council for a water supply and in 1938 DSIR reported on Waipatukahu Spring where, "''Beautifully clear water rises in a pool perhaps 6 ft. across on the floor of Omahina Creek at a point some up from the south end of the tidal flat and a few chains above sea-level''" and flow had been measured at /day, close to the 4,800 mentioned above.In 1938 the Council said the annual cost of a loan would be £700 for an estimated total cost of £10,000. Another sewage and water scheme was considered in 1949, but still the cost of a loan was too high. Despite pollution, the Rose St bore was connected to the low areas of town and the camping ground.R T Vernon: Raglan 1984 Council put in a new pump, but it could only pump /day, so in the 1959 a bore was drilled at Warihi Park, but abandoned in 1962 due to problems with flow and gas in the water. A 1959 £100,000 estimate for Riki springs supply was still considered too expensive. Finally, in 1961 Council got a £62,000 loan to bring water from Riki Springs, for a pump to lift water up the hill to tanks (another large reservoir was added in 1981), from where it ran by gravity to the top of Bow St. In October 1963, 4 weeks of dry weather resulted in council carting water to fill empty tanks. By Christmas 1963 household tanks were being filled by long hoses connected to the half-finished mains. On 8 July 1964, the first householders were invited to apply for a supply. There were problems with Christmas peak supplies and an upgrade was installed in 1972. In 1981 an extra reservoir was built in Cornwall Rd quarry. In the late 1980s, the Community Arts Council got a mural painted on the water tower. It was restored in 2015 and repainted in 2024.


Sewage

Since 1976 sewage from the town has been pumped to a treatment works to the west, with the treated effluent pumped, mainly on outgoing tides, into the mouth of the harbour. Ultra violet treatment was added in 2008 and aquamats (high surface–area polymer filters) and other upgrades in 2017, but the
resource consent A resource consent is the authorisation given to certain activities or uses of natural and physical resources required under the New Zealand Resource Management Act (the "RMA"). Some activities may either be specifically authorised by the RMA or ...
conditions for
total suspended solids Total suspended solids (TSS) is the dry-weight of suspended particles, that are not dissolved, in a sample of water that can be trapped by a filter that is analyzed using a filtration apparatus known as sintered glass crucible. TSS is a water qu ...
and faecal coliforms are still being breached. A proposal to use subsurface drip field irrigation, rather than disposal to sea is being considered, but may be postponed again.


Notable people

*
Angeline Greensill Angeline Ngahina Greensill (born 1948) is a New Zealand Māori political rights campaigner, academic and leader. Early life Greensill is of Tainui, Ngāti Porou, and Ngāti Paniora descent, born in the late 1940s in Hamilton and raised at Ra ...
(born 1948), Māori political rights campaigner and academic *
Anna Coddington Anna Coddington (born 14 June 1981) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. She has released four albums. Her previous band 'Duchess', for whom Coddington was songwriter, singer and guitarist, also released a 6 track EP in 2005. In 2015, Coddington ...
, contemporary musician * Antonio Te Maioha (born 1970), actor * Dave Currie (born 1945), sports administrator * Joan Fear (1932–2022), painter *
Hallyburton Johnstone Hallyburton Johnstone (23 August 1897 – 10 August 1970) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. Biography Johnstone was born in Raglan in 1897, the son of Campbell Johnstone. He was educated at Te Uku, Whata Whata, an ...
(1897–1970), MP and farmer * David Pretty (1878–1947), champion axeman and athlete *
Edward Puttick Lieutenant General Sir Edward Puttick, (26 June 1890 – 25 July 1976) was an officer who served with the New Zealand Military Forces during the First and Second World Wars. The first New Zealand-born soldier to reach the rank of lieutenant ge ...
(1890–1976), retired soldier *
Eva Rickard Tuaiwa Hautai "Eva" Rickard ( Kereopa; 19 April 1925 – 6 December 1997) was a New Zealand activism, activist for Māori people, Māori land law, land rights and for women's rights within Māoridom. Her methods included public civil disobedien ...
(1925–1997), Māori rights campaigner *Cort and
Annie Jane Schnackenberg Annie Jane Schnackenberg ( Allen; 22 November 1835 – 2 May 1905) was a New Zealand Wesleyanism, Wesleyan missionary, temperance and welfare worker, and suffragist. She served as president of the Auckland branch of the Women's Christian Tempera ...
, 1860s–1870s missionaries * Jordan Riki (2000–2017),
Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...
,
Māori All Stars 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 ...


See also

* Raglan Chronicle, local newspaper *
List of radio stations in Waikato This is a list of radio stations in the Waikato Region of New Zealand. Most Waikato stations originate from Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, Thames, New Zealand, Thames and Taupō. Hamilton The following stations broadcast in the Hamilton, New ...
* Hauauru ma raki proposed windfarm *
Surf Life Saving Northern Region Surf Life Saving Northern Region is the largest of four regions that make up Surf Life Saving New Zealand. As of the 2021/2022 season, it is made up of 18 clubs that look after 22 patrol locations from Ahipara to Raglan on the West Coast and fr ...
* Strawberry Fields Music Festival, held at venues around Raglan in the 1990s and until the early 2000s (decade). * Raglan Harbour Board Empowering Act *
Futuro A Futuro house, or Futuro Pod, is a round, prefabricated house designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen, of which fewer than 100 were built during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The shape, reminiscent of a flying saucer, and the structure ...
, fibreglass "spaceship" house (moved to
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 ...
in 2015)


References


External links


Raglan WeatherRaglan Area School
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Environmental organisations


Whāingaroa Environment Centre

Karioi restoration project

Te Mauri Tau

Whāingaroa Environmental DefenceFriends of Wainui Bush Park
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Transportation


Civil Aviation Authority bulletin on safety at Raglan airfieldPublic transportation from Raglan to Hamilton
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Walking trip resources


1:50,000 map
also wit
walking access information

Walks on Wainui Reserve

Department of Conservation brochure
for Karioi, Bryant Reserve, Karamu Walkway, Bridal Veil and
Pirongia Pirongia is a small town in the Waipā District of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is 12 kilometres to the west of Te Awamutu, on the banks of the Waipā River, close to the foot of the 962 metre Mount Pirongia, which lies i ...

Heritage strolls in Raglan
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Webcams

*Raglan Beach webcams
Raglan A
an
Raglan B
NIWA The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research or NIWA (), is a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand. Established in 1992, NIWA conducts research across a broad range of disciplines in the environmental sciences. It also maintai ...
{{Waikato District Populated places in Waikato Populated coastal places in New Zealand Surfing locations in New Zealand Waikato District Beaches of Waikato Black sand beaches