The bay itself is quite small and is well sheltered by an artificial breakwater that extends from the northern edge of the bay, running towards the south. A small bark and grass area with several large pōhutukawa trees offering shelter complements the beachfront and an extended coastline stretches out to the north towards Campbells Bay.
Geography
Castor Bay beach
Castor Bay is located on the east coast of the North Shore, between Campbells Bay and Milford.[4] The bay to the east shares the same name as the suburb, and looks out towards Rangitoto.[5] The point to the east of Castor Bay is called Rahopara Point,[6] and the river at the southern border of the suburb is called Wairau Creek.[7]
The land is primarily formed from clay and Waitemata sandstone, which can be seen in the cliffs along the coast.[8] Prior to human settlement, the inland Castor Bay area was primarily a northern broadleaf podocarp forest, dominated by kauri, tōtara, mataī, miro, kauri and kahikatea trees. Pōhutukawa trees were a major feature of the coastline.[9][10]
History
Māori history
Castor Bay in 1916. Rahopara Point headland was used as a defensive pā by Te Kawerau ā Maki
Māori settlement of the Auckland Region began around the 13th or 14th centuries.[11][12] The North Shore was settled by Tāmaki Māori, including people descended from the Tainui migratory canoe and ancestors of figures such as Taikehu and Peretū.[13] Many of the Tāmaki Māori people of the North Shore identified as Ngā Oho.[14] While the poor soils in the area hindered dense settlement,[8] traditional resources in the area included fish, shellfish and marine birds.[15]
The warrior Maki migrated from the Kāwhia Harbour to his ancestral home in the Auckland Region, likely sometime in the 17th century. Maki conquered and unified many the Tāmaki Māori tribes as Te Kawerau ā Maki, including those of the North Shore.[16][17] After Maki's death, his sons settled different areas of his lands, creating new hapū. His younger son Maraeariki settled the North Shore and Hibiscus Coast, who based himself at the head of the Ōrewa River. Maraeariki's daughter Kahu succeeded him, and she is the namesake of the North Shore, Te Whenua Roa o Kahu ("The Greater Lands of Kahu").[18][19] Many of the iwi of the North Shore, including Ngāti Manuhiri, Ngāti Maraeariki, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Poataniwha, Ngāi Tai Ki Tāmaki and Ngāti Whātua, can trace their lineage to Kahu.[19][20]
The northern headland of Castor Bay is the site of an old Māoripā, Rahopara, also known as Te Rahopara o Peretū.[21] Archaeological studies have dated an earth oven at the site to between the mid-15th and mid-16th centuries,[22] and generations of Tāmaki Māori adapted the defenses of the pā over time.[21] The name of the pā is associated with Peretū,[21] an ancestor of the Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki people,[23] and the pā was known as a defensive stronghold of Te Kawerau ā Maki.[24] Traditional histories recount Te Patukirikiri ancestor Kapetaua sacking the pā in the 17th century, as revenge for being marooned at Te Toka-o-Kapetaua (Bean Rock).[21][25] A second pā known as Wairoa Pā was located further south, at the headland overlooking the mouth of the Wairau Creek.[26]
By the 18th century, the Marutūāhu iwi Ngāti Paoa had expanded their influence to include the islands of the Hauraki Gulf and the North Shore.[27] After periods of conflict, peace had been reached by the 1790s.[28] The earliest contact with Europeans began in the late 18th century, which caused many Tāmaki Māori to die of rewharewha, respiratory diseases.[29] During the early 1820s, most Māori of the North Shore fled for the Waikato or Northland due to the threat of war parties during the Musket Wars. Most people had returned by the late 1820s and 1830s.[12][27][30]
European settlement
A World War II gun emplacement at J F Kennedy Memorial ParkNew suburban shops in Castor Bay in the 1960s
In 1841, the Crown purchased the Mahurangi and Omaha blocks; an area that spanned from Takapuna to Te Ārai. The purchase involved some iwi with customary interests in the area, such as Ngāti Paoa, other Marutūāhu iwi and Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, but not others, such as Te Kawerau ā Maki or Ngāti Rango.[31][32][20][33] The Crown spent until 1873 rectifying this sale, by making further deals with stakeholders.[32][33]
Castor Bay was originally known as Castor Oil Bay, after an early settler planted castor bean trees on the hillsides of the area.[34][35] The name Castor Bay started to be used from the 1910s, and from the mid-1910s the area was subdivided by the Castor Oil Bay Land Company.[36] By the early 20th century, the bay had become a popular destination for daytrippers and holiday makers, and holiday baches were constructed here.[37][34] In the 1920s, the bay became a popular with New Zealand literary figures, after resident Jane Stronach made her bach available to people including poet D'Arcy Cresswell, novelist Jane Mander and poet R. A. K. Mason.[34]
During World War II, the Castor Bay Battery and Camp was built during World War II, to protect the Rangitoto Channel.[21] The site was originally purchased by the Army in 1934,[38] and the military buildings were disguised as a state housing project.[34] The site was decommissioned in 1957, and given to the Takapuna City Council in 1966, becoming the JF Kennedy Memorial Park.[38]
After the construction of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1959, the area developed further, and the first convenience stores opened in Castor Bay.[34] The Rahopara pā archaeological site was almost destroyed in 1965, as the earthworks were planned to be excavated and used as fill for a marina. Plans for this were cancelled after lobbying by archaeologists and local residents.[21]
Demographics
Castor Bay covers 1.44km2 (0.56sqmi)[1] and had an estimated population of 4,490 as of June 2023,[2] with a population density of 3,118 people per km2.
Castor Bay had a population of 4,509 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 204 people (4.7%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 393 people (9.5%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,563 households, comprising 2,184 males and 2,322 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.94 males per female. The median age was 42.0 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 810 people (18.0%) aged under 15 years, 798 (17.7%) aged 15 to 29, 2,190 (48.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 708 (15.7%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 76.2% European/Pākehā, 3.9% Māori, 1.2% Pacific peoples, 21.5% Asian, and 2.9% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 39.5, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 54.2% had no religion, 35.7% were Christian, 0.5% were Hindu, 1.1% were Muslim, 1.3% were Buddhist and 2.1% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 1,449 (39.2%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 237 (6.4%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $46,600, compared with $31,800 nationally. 1,233 people (33.3%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,899 (51.3%) people were employed full-time, 567 (15.3%) were part-time, and 105 (2.8%) were unemployed.[39]
Education
The local primary school is Campbells Bay Primary School located on Aberdeen Road, nearby the Pupuke Golf Course. It has a roll of 678 as of February 2024.[40][41] The school opened in 1925.[42]
Local government
From 1876 until 1954, the area was administered by the Waitemata County, a large rural county north and west of the city of Auckland.[43] In 1954, Castor Bay was added to the Borough of Takapuna,[44] which became Takapuna City in 1961.[34] In 1989, the city was merged into the North Shore City.[45] North Shore City was amalgamated into Auckland Council in November 2010.[46]
↑ Veart, Dave (2018). The Māori Archaeology of Te Raki Paewhenua/North Shore (Report). Auckland North Community and Development. p.10. ISBN978-0-9941358-4-1.
↑ Murdoch, Graeme (1990). "Nga Tohu o Waitakere: the Maori Place Names of the Waitakere River Valley and its Environs; their Background History and an Explanation of their Meaning". In Northcote-Bade, James (ed.). West Auckland Remembers, Volume 1. West Auckland Historical Society. p.13-14. ISBN0-473-00983-8.
1 2 Whaanga, Mel (March 2022). "He taonga o te rohe". Restore Hibiscus & Bays. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
1 2 Ngāi Tai Ki Tāmaki and the Trustees of the Ngāi Tai Ki Tāmaki Trust and the Crown (7 November 2015). "Deed of settlement schedule documents"(PDF). NZ Government. Archived(PDF) from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Cameron, Ewen; Hayward, Bruce; Murdoch, Graeme (2008). A Field Guide to Auckland: Exploring the Region's Natural and Historical Heritage (rev.ed.). Random House New Zealand. p.137. ISBN978-1-86962-1513.
↑ "Jubilees & reunions - Campbells Bay School". Education Gazette New Zealand. 78 (11). 5 July 1999.
↑ Reidy, Jade (2009). "How the West Was Run". In Macdonald, Finlay; Kerr, Ruth (eds.). West: The History of Waitakere. Random House. pp.238–239. ISBN9781869790080.
The North Shore is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. The area is defined as the northern shores of the Waitematā Harbour as far north as the Ōkura River.
Orewa is a settlement in the northern Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is a suburb of the Hibiscus Coast, just north of the base of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula and 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of central Auckland. The Northern Motorway, part of State Highway 1, passes just inland of Orewa and extends through the twin Johnston Hill tunnels to near Puhoi.
Northcote is a suburb of Auckland in northern New Zealand. It is situated on the North Shore, on the northern shores of Waitematā Harbour, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) northwest of the Auckland City Centre. The suburb includes the peninsula of Northcote Point where the northern approaches to the Auckland Harbour Bridge are located, and Northcote Central, the commercial centre of Northcote. Northcote features two volcanic maars.
East Coast Bays is a string of small suburbs that form the northernmost part of the North Shore, part of the contiguous Auckland metropolitan area in New Zealand. The suburbs line the north-east coast of the city along the shore of the Hauraki Gulf and Rangitoto Channel. They include, from north to south, Long Bay, Torbay, Waiake Bay, Browns Bay, Rothesay Bay, Murrays Bay, Mairangi Bay, Campbells Bay and Castor Bay. Most of the East Coast Bays are covered under the East Coast Bays subdivision of the Hibiscus and Bays local board area.
Birkenhead is a suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the North Shore of the Waitematā Harbour, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) northwest of the Auckland City Centre. The area has been settled by Tāmaki Māori since at least the 14th century, and is the location of Te Matarae ō Mana, a fortified pā for Te Kawerau ā Maki that overlooked an important seasonal shark fishery. European settlement in Birkenhead began in late the 1840s, and by the late 19th century the area became renowned for strawberry crops. In 1884, the Chelsea Sugar Refinery was constructed in Birkenhead, becoming a major source of income for Birkenhead. The increased population growth led to Birkenhead becoming one of the first boroughs of Auckland in 1888. Birkenhead transitioned from a semi-rural community to suburban Auckland after the opening of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1959, becoming a city in 1978. In 1989, Birkenhead City was amalgamated with North Shore City.
Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is an isthmus between Shoal Bay, arm of the Waitematā Harbour, and the Hauraki Gulf. Lake Pupuke, a volcanic maar and one of the oldest features of the Auckland volcanic field, is a freshwater lake located in the suburb.
Glenfield is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, located on the North Shore. Established as a rural community in the 1850s, the area developed as a suburban part of Auckland after the completion of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1959.
Albany is one of the northernmost suburbs of the contiguous Auckland metropolitan area in New Zealand. It is located on the North Shore, 15 kilometres (9 mi) northwest of the Auckland city centre. Albany is found at the headlands of Lucas Creek, and was the location of a portage used by Tāmaki Māori, where waka could be taken between the Upper Waitematā Harbour and the Okura River/Hauraki Gulf. During the 1840s, early European settlers established the village of Lucas Creek, which became by the 1880s had become a major fruit growing centre in Auckland. The town voted to change the name from Lucas Creek to Albany in 1890.
Milford is a suburb located on the North Shore, Auckland. It is located on northern side of Lake Pupuke. It also has a popular swimming beach, which runs some two kilometres from Black Rock in the south to Castor Bay in the north. The Wairau Creek reaches the sea at the Hauraki Gulf at the northern end of Milford Beach, and its lower tidal reaches host the Milford Marina.
Browns Bay is one of the most northernmost suburbs in the contiguous Auckland metropolitan area, located in the North Shore. Named after the Brown family who settled here in 1876, Browns Bay became a holiday destination in the late 19th century. The area gradually developed into a suburb of Auckland in the 1950s, and was the administrative centre for the East Coast Bays City from 1975 until it was disestablished in 1989. During the 1990s, the suburb became a hub for the South African New Zealander community.
Mairangi Bay is a coastal suburb of North Shore, Auckland, located in the northern North Island of New Zealand, on the south-east-facing peninsula forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. Mairangi Bay came under the local governance of the North Shore City Council until subsumed into the Auckland Council in 2010.
Torbay is a northern suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located in the upper East Coast Bays of the city's North Shore, and is governed by Auckland Council.
Rothesay Bay is a small suburb in Auckland's East Coast Bays region. The suburb is roughly the same size as Murrays Bay, the suburb to the immediate south.
Murrays Bay is a small suburb in the East Coast Bays region, located in the North Shore of Auckland. The suburb is roughly the same size as Rothesay Bay, the suburb to the immediate north. It is primarily a residential area but does have a community centre, restaurant and café. Murrays Bay is regularly serviced by buses which go to Takapuna and the Auckland city centre.
Long Bay is one of the northernmost suburbs of the North Shore, part of the contiguous Auckland metropolitan area located in New Zealand.
Campbells Bay is a suburb of the North Shore located in Auckland, New Zealand.
Tāmaki Māori are Māori iwi and hapū who have a strong connection to Tāmaki Makaurau, and whose rohe was traditionally within the region. Among Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau, also known as the Tāmaki Collective, there are thirteen iwi and hapū, organised into three rōpū (collectives), however Tāmaki Māori can also refer to subtribes and historical iwi not included in this list.
Waiake is one of the northernmost suburbs of the North Shore, in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located in the East Coast Bays between the suburbs of Browns Bay to the south and Torbay to the north. It has a beach, which looks out to the Tor, a presque-isle at the north end of the beach that becomes an island at high tide. Waiake is under the local governance of the Auckland Council.
Schnapper Rock is a western suburb on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is currently under local governance of Auckland Council. The area was known for a gum digging hut used by early European settlers in the mid-19th century. North Shore Memorial Park was opened area in 1974, and the area developed into suburban housing in the early 2000s.
Oruamo or Hellyers Creek is a stream and tidal estuary of Upper Waitematā Harbour in the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows through the western North Shore.
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Castor Bay
