Norfolk Road

Norfolk Road, near Inglewood, is split by the main road into an upper and lower section. The road was named after a county in England.

When the first surveys of the area were done, W.H. Skinner described the land as being “covered with dense bush and undergrowth, and in parts waterlogged.” The first settlers arrived in the early 1870s, before the road was formed.

In the years that followed, improvements to Mountain Road meant more people were travelling via the inland route rather than around the coast. The subsequent population increase meant a school was soon required in the area.

Tenders to build the first Norfolk Road school were called for in December 1878 and the first schoolhouse, with a teacher’s residence, was built for £485. The school had a roll of 33 children when it opened.

In 1882, trains began to stop regularly at Norfolk Road. A post office operated from the teacher’s residence from 1899 until 1942, after which the mail was delivered to Norfolk Road from Inglewood.

It was many years before the Norfolk district would have a hall. In the early 1950s land was donated and a small kitchen and supper-room were built. Sufficient money was raised to complete the hall in 1958.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.

Related plan:

Taranaki SO448 Sheet 1: Survey of Maketawa River (1887). ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ).