Taradale is a residential suburb of the city of Napier in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 10 kilometres south-west of the centre of Napier.
For hundreds of years, hills overlooking what is now Taradale were the site of villages occupied by Māori people, latterly of the Ngāti Kahungunu tribe. Europeans started settling at Taradale in the 1850s, and it was officially recognised as a town in 1886. It was a town district from 1886 to 1953, and a borough from 1953 to 1968, when it merged with Napier City. The Taradale area is home to some of New Zealand's oldest and finest vineyards and wineries, with wine-making dating back to the 1850s.
History
Early Māori history Several hundred years ago there was a large Māori pā (fortified settlement) on the hills at the southern edge of what is now Taradale. Originally a double pā, the top part was called Hikurangi and the bottom Ōtātara. Occupied by the Tini-o-Awa tribe, also known as Ngāti Awa, the pā covered about 100 hectares and had about 3,000 residents. The pā was on an excellent defensive site beside the Tūtaekurī River, which was navigable by canoe from the sea. Food was plentiful, the hillsides were suitable for kūmara growing and much of the area was a large tidal location with fish, eels and shellfish.
The pā was attacked early in the 16th century by the Ngāti Kahungunu tribe under chiefs Taraia and Rakai-hiku-roa. They came from Tūranga, near what is now Gisborne, and conquered the Hikurangi pā. Unable to take Ōtātara at that time, Taraia set up a new pā at Pākōwhai. Some time later he organised another war party and besieged Ōtātara again. According to legend, he waited until the defenders were short of food, then left, leaving a small party concealed near a patch of bracken fern. The defenders sent two men out to dig for fern-root. They were ambushed and killed and their places taken by two of Taraia's men. When the defenders saw the men digging, they thought they were from Ōtātara so opened up the pā and went out to help. Taraia's men attacked and killed many of the local Māori. The pā then collapsed and was abandoned.
Over the years marriages took place between local Māori and Ngāti Kahungunu and peace was restored. Today the Ōtātara pā site has become a memorial to the Māori who were once so numerous in the area.
Early European history Taradale was on the original route from Napier to the farms and settlements of its hinterland and over the ranges to Taihape and Taupō, and on to Auckland. In 1851 Donald McLean purchased the Ahuriri Block, which included present-day Taradale and Greenmeadows, on behalf of the Crown. By the mid-1850s settlers started flocking to Hawke's Bay, with the 1856 census recording 1,057 males and 458 females. The government purchased the Tutaekuri Block in 1856, and it was subdivided along with the Ahuriri Block as the River Meeanee District and released for sale in April 1857. William Colenso purchased several blocks of land in Puketapu and Meeanee, and a 364-acre block that lay between Guppy Road and the hills, and between the Great North Road (now Meeanee Road / Puketapu Road) and the Tūtaekurī River. Henry Stokes Tiffen bought most of the land north of Colenso's block and named his block Green Meadows after the native danthonia grass that covered the region.
Henry Alley arrived and leased land from Colenso in 1858, naming the area "Taradale". It was once thought that he named it after the Hill of Tara, in County Meath, Ireland, where he was supposed to have been born. However, death records indicate that he was instead born in Queen's County (now county Laois), Ireland. He emigrated with his sister Frances to Australia, where he lived in the township of Taradale, Victoria, until circa 1855. Alley built what was reputed to be the first house, somewhere in the vicinity of Alley Place and Lowther Place. Taradale High School retains a link with the early days of Taradale, its emblem incorporating the Tara Brooch.
The Battle of Omarunui, fought nearby on 12 October 1866, saw the settlers and local Māori join to defend against an intrusion by the Hauhau faction during the New Zealand Wars.
In 1886 a petition was sent to the governor of New Zealand, Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, asking him to proclaim the district of Taradale as a dependent town district under the provision of the Town Districts Act 1881. The Hawke's Bay County Council confirmed the petition and the Town District of Taradale was proclaimed on 2 December 1886. A town board was formed with John Drummond (chairman), Robert Davidson, Richard Martin, Richard Neagle and George Bradley. William Waterhouse was the first town clerk. Taradale was administered by the town board from 1886 to 1953.
Twentieth century onwards Before the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, Taradale and Greenmeadows were separated from Napier by a lagoon and tidal mudflats, bridged from 1874 by Taradale Road. Other access was by the coastal road to Awatoto, then to Meeanee village and the Great North Road (Meeanee Road). As well as the geographical boundaries, Anderson Park and green patches on the edge of Greenmeadows are visual boundaries that separate Taradale and Greenmeadows from the rest of Napier City. As a consequence of the 1931 earthquake, the raised seabed enabled Napier's residential suburbs to spread slowly south towards Taradale and Greenmeadows as swamps were reclaimed. Buildings destroyed by the earthquake were rebuilt in Art Deco style architecture, examples being Taradale Town Hall and Taradale Hotel (now a McDonald's restaurant).
The town was administered by Taradale Borough Council from 1953 to 1968. It was one of the fastest-growing boroughs in New Zealand in the 1960s. Retailers considered it a good place to establish shops with rapidly expanding population. People took pride in their property and Taradale became known as the Garden Borough. Amalgamation with Napier was proposed and debated for many years until it was approved by referendum in 1968. The final meeting of the borough council was held on 26 March 1968 before it was absorbed by Napier City Council. The last mayor of Taradale was Arthur Miller, who pushed to establish Taradale Intermediate School and Taradale High School. His support for education was recognised in 1971, when a new primary school in Guppy Road was named Arthur Miller School.
Geography Taradale is a residential township nestled against the Taradale hills, a 10-minute drive from the centre of Napier. It has one of the highest socioeconomic demographic profiles in Hawke's Bay. Residential housing spans decades of design styles from villas through art deco. Many of Taradale's residents commute to the Napier or Hastings CBDs.
Greenmeadows is a suburb some two kilometres north of the Taradale town centre, and an integral part of the Taradale community. Greenmeadows from the beginning has been seen as an extension of Taradale rather than a separate community. It became part of Taradale Town District formally in 1941. It has a small shopping village with essential services and a New World supermarket. The Taradale and Greenmeadows area is also known merely as Taradale, or Greendale for local facilities.
Demographics Taradale covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2.
Taradale had a population of 12,855 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 399 people (3.2%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 1,026 people (8.7%) since the 2013 census. There were 6,024 males, 6,795 females, and 36 people of other genders in 5,052 dwellings. 2.3% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 46.4 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 2,220 people (17.3%) aged under 15 years, 1,884 (14.7%) aged 15 to 29, 5,430 (42.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 3,318 (25.8%) aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 84.7% European (Pākehā); 14.4% Māori; 2.3% Pasifika; 8.3% Asian; 0.8% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.4% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 97.4%, Māori by 3.2%, Samoan by 0.4%, and other languages by 10.0%. No language could be spoken by 1.4% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.3%. The percentage of people born overseas was 20.9, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 34.4% Christian, 1.0% Hindu, 0.4% Islam, 1.2% Māori religious beliefs, 0.9% Buddhist, 0.3% New Age, 0.1% Jewish, and 1.2% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 54.3%, and 6.5% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 2,358 (22.2%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 5,781 (54.4%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 2,490 (23.4%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $39,200, compared with $41,500 nationally. 1,122 people (10.6%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 5,004 (47.1%) full-time, 1,392 (13.1%) part-time, and 180 (1.7%) unemployed.
+Individual statistical areasName Area(km2) Population Density(per km2) Dwellings Median age Medianincome Taradale West 1.69 1,806 1,069 660 48.3 years $48,200 Taradale South 5.12 2,790 545 1,056 49.6 years $36,300 Taradale Central 1.18 2,637 2,235 1,155 51.7 years $36,100 Bledisloe Park 0.88 2,370 2,693 951 40.8 years $41,400 Tareha Reserve 1.76 3,255 1,849 1,230 42.2 years $38,100 New Zealand 38.1 years $41,500
Wineries
Taradale is a gateway to some of the finest and oldest wineries in New Zealand. The area is rich in wine heritage dating back as far as the 1850s. Two of the most famous vineyards in Hawke's Bay, Mission Estate Winery and Church Road Winery, together attract over 300,000 tourists annually.
Mission Estate Winery, founded in 1851 and occupying its present site in Church Road since 1897, is the oldest New Zealand winery still in operation and is a tourist attraction. French Marist missionaries established the Hawke's Bay Marist Mission at Pākōwhai in 1851. The mission was moved to Meeanee in 1858 and a vineyard was established to produce sacramental and table wines, and a church and school were built soon after. In 1880 a two-storied house was built as a seminary. Following the 1887 flood, an 800-acre (325 hectares) property in Church Road was purchased from Henry Tiffen and a new vineyard was established. Some of the original terracing can be seen on the hillside area now used for the Mission Concert held every February. In 1910 the Mount St. Mary Seminary building was moved from Meeanee to its present Mission location on Church Road. It was cut into eleven sections and rolled on logs towed by a traction engine, an operation that took two days. An accommodation block was built and opened in February 1931. The next day the Hawke's Bay earthquake struck, causing serious damage to the entire Mission. Two priests and seven students were killed when the stone chapel was destroyed. The seminary building was refurbished in the early 2000s to accommodate a restaurant and function rooms. The Mission is a popular venue for weddings.
The Church Road Winery, formerly McDonald's Wines, was founded in 1897 by Bartholemew Steinmetz, a lay brother from the Marist Mission, and is one of the oldest wineries in Hawke's Bay. Some of its most illustrious years were spent under the leadership of pioneer winemaker Tom McDonald, now widely acknowledged as the father of New Zealand's premium red wine industry. The winery buildings now include a restaurant, and a wine museum, housed underground, traces the history and techniques of winemaking.