Baring Terrace

Baring Terrace runs from Northgate across Devon Street East and continues until it comes to an end at the railway overbridge which leads down to the East End Skating Arena.

When Frederic Carrington drew his first plan of New Plymouth, Baring Terrace formed the eastern boundary of the town. It follows the contours of the Te Hēnui River and is one of the few roads not conforming to the grid pattern that Carrington favoured for the new settlement. One of the most progressive features of Carrington's original plan was a belt of boulevards and parks surrounding the town. The largest of these was Devon Park, which was to run inland from the sea, alongside Baring Terrace, toward the town boundary.

The ambitious plan ran into problems when land close to town was needed as compensation to settlers after Governor FitzRoy annulled much of the New Zealand Company's original land purchases. Victoria Park (now known as Pukekura Park) was the only significant green space to be spared from residential development.

The street was named after Francis Baring, 3rd Baron Ashburton, a deputy-governor of the New Zealand Company. Francis Baring was born in the American city of Philadelphia, the son of Alexander Baring and his wife Ann, who was the daughter of a wealthy US Senator. As an adult he worked at Baring Brothers, the family bank. However, some poor investment decisions led to him being dispatched to England where he took up a political career as a Tory Member of Parliament.

In common with many New Plymouth streets, Baring Terrace has an eclectic mix of housing styles and includes a church built in 1972 for the Assembly of God. The church building is now the 4th Wall Theatre.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.

Related plans:

Baring Terrace SO585 (1889), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)

Henui Road District Baring Terrace DP1567 (1900), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)

Borough of New Plymouth Baring Tce NR 16 Deed 39 (1913), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)

Baring Terrace Town Belt H DP3524 (1914), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)