Tauweru, alternatively Taueru, and previously known as Wardell,Sharpe, Marty, 6 July 2002

, ''Wairarapa Times-Age''. or WardelltownResults of the New Zealand Census, 28 March 1886

/ref> is a locality in the

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service t ...

region 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 South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

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 ...

. It is named after and located on the middle reaches of the Tauweru River, which drains into the

Ruamahanga River The Ruamahanga River runs through the southeastern North Island of New Zealand. The river's headwaters are in the Tararua Range northwest of Masterton. From there it runs firstly south and then southwest for before emptying into the Cook Str ...

near

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

and Te Whiti, and the name is a Māori-language word meaning "hanging in clusters". Tauweru is situated east of the Wairarapa's largest town,

Masterton Masterton () is a large town in the Wellington Region, Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand that operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa ...

, and is located on the main road between Masterton and

Castlepoint Castlepoint is a small beachside settlement on the Wairarapa coast of the Wellington Region of New Zealand. It is home to a lighthouse which stands near the top of the northern end of a reef. The reef is about one kilometre long. At the southe ...

. The nearest

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 ...

is the

Wairarapa Line The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. The line runs for , connecting the capital city Wellington with the Palmerston North–Gisborne Line at Woodville, New Zealand, Woodville, ...

in Masterton. In June 1942, Tauweru was the

epicentre The epicenter (), epicentre, or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Determination The primary purpose of a s ...

of one of the most destructive

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

s since European settlement of the Wairarapa in the mid-19th century.

Demographics

Tauweru is part of the

Whareama Whareama is a rural area in the Wellington Region of New Zealand's North Island. The Whareama River flows through the area. Marae The community has two ''marae'' affiliated with the Ngāti Kahungunu ''hapū'' of Ngāi Tumapuhia-a-Rangi: Mot ...

statistical area.

References

Populated places in the Wellington Region Masterton District {{Wellington-geo-stub