Studholme is a locality in southern

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

in 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 ...

. It is named after

Michael Studholme John Studholme (1829–1903) was a 19th-century British pioneer of New Zealand, farmer and politician in the Canterbury region of New Zealand.Mosley, vol.3 p. 2803 Early life John Studholme was born in 1829 the son of John Studholme, a landowner ...

, 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, on the shores of the

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

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 No ...

, 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 or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

to the north and Nukuroa and Willowbridge to the south.

Transport

Studholme is situated on

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered S ...

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 in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inv ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

. 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 phrase used in railway terminology to denote 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. Industrial spur An industr ...

was built to Waimate. Known as the Waimate Branch, 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 Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondary ...

of the branch, now trackless, can still be seen leaving the main line in Studholme.

Economy

Studholme's economy is primarily

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

. 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 Canterbury, New Zealand