Studholme is a locality in southern

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in 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 ...

. It is named after Michael Studholme, a pioneer European settler who arrived in the area in 1854.

Geography

Studholme is situated on the coastal plains of the Waihao River and

Waimate Creek Waimate Creek is a natural watercourse in the southern Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. Its original Māori name was Te Waimatemate, which means "slowly moving waters". Catchment Waimate Creek runs roughly eastwards, rising ...

, on the shores of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

and Wainono Lagoon. Approximately seven kilometres west is

Waimate Waimate is a town in Canterbury, New Zealand, and the seat of Waimate District. It is situated just inland from the eastern coast of the South Island. The town is reached via a short detour west when travelling on State Highway One, the main N ...

, the largest town in the district. Other nearby localities include

Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

to the north and Nukuroa and Willowbridge to the south.

Transport

Studholme is situated on State Highway 1 and the

Main South Line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton, New Zealand, Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

. The railway was opened on 1 February 1877 and still operates today, although passenger services ceased after the cancellation of the Southerner express train on 10 February 2002. Not long after the railway was opened, Studholme became a junction when a

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

was built to Waimate. Known as the

Waimate Branch The Waimate Branch was a branch line railway built in southern Canterbury, New Zealand to link the Main South Line with the town of Waimate, the centre of the surrounding rural area. It opened in 1877 and operated until 1966; for some of this ...

, this line began operating on 19 March 1877 and ran until 31 March 1966, from which point Studholme became the transshipment point for rail freight to and from Waimate. The abandoned formation of the branch, now trackless, can still be seen leaving the main line in Studholme.

Economy

Studholme's economy is primarily

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

. Industrial activity is directly related to agriculture; for example, a dairy factory was formally opened in late October 2007 and it produces products such as milk powder.

Demographics

Studholme is part of the Makikihi-Willowbridge statistical area.

Notable people

* David Lindsay – rugby union player

References

{{Waimate District, New Zealand Waimate District Populated places in the Canterbury Region