Seatoun

Seatoun is an eastern suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand and lies on the east coast of the Miramar Peninsula, close to the entrance to Wellington Harbour (Port Nicholson).

Seatoun
Suburb
Seatoun from Wellington Harbour entrance
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Seatoun
Coordinates: 41.323°S 174.833°E / -41.323; 174.833
Country	New Zealand
City	Wellington City
Local authority	Wellington City Council
Electoral ward	Motukairangi/Eastern Ward Te Whanganui-a-Tara Māori Ward
Established	1889
Area
• Land	133 ha (329 acres)
Population  (June 2024)
• Total	2,400
Ferry terminals	Seatoun Ferry terminal

Miramar	Worser Bay
	Seatoun	Wellington Harbour heads
Strathmore Park	Breaker Bay, Cook Strait

Geography

The suburb sits on an exposed promontory close to Barrett Reef, a dangerous area of rocky shallows upon which many ships have foundered.

Seatoun as a suburb looks out on to Steeple Rock/Te Aroaro-o-Kupe, a large rock at the west of the Wellington Harbour entrance, rising 7 metres (23 ft) above sea level.

History

The traditional Māori name for the Seatoun area is Te Turanga o Kupe. It is where the mythical Polynesian navigator, Kupe, is said to have first set ashore on his voyage to New Zealand, around 1000–1300 BC. Kupe is also said to have named the foreshore Kirikiritatangi, after the rattling and rumbling caused by the waves disturbing gravel on the beach.

The first settlement of the surrounding area was by Māori, led by the semi-mythical explorer Tara, or more fully Tara-Ika i Nohu, who also gave his name to what's now Wellington (as Te Whanganui a Tara, or The Harbour of Tara) and the iwi Ngāi Tara. Tara settled Matiu/Soames Island around 1100-1300 AD with an estimated 200 people. The group was broken into two, with one of these establishing a pā, named Te Whetū Kairangi, which takes its name from 'whetū' (meaning star) and 'kairangi' (meaning exalted or high status), overlooking Worser Bay.

Much of what now comprises Seatoun did not exist as accessible land when first settled by Māori, which along with defense helps to explain why early pā in the area occupy hillside or hilltop sites. At the time, what is now the Miramar Peninsula was disconnected to the mainland and existed as a separate island within the harbour, known after the first pā as Te Motu Kairangi (or The Exhaulted Island). Much of modern Seatoun then emerged, and the island was connected to the land, when lifted from the sea by the Horowhenua earthquake of 1460.

A second pā was constructed in the area during the 1700s, on headland at the entrance to the harbour, in what is now the Oruaiti Reserve. Tradition records that it was built by Te Rerewa of the Rangitane iwi, and that it was once attacked by Māori from Whanganui with some 500 being routed and killed at nearby Worser Bay. The site is site is marked today by a 17-metre long sculpture of a 'waka' (traditional canoe), constructed in 2013.

The modern name Seatoun, originally Seatown, comes from a settlement in Forfarshire, Scotland, linked with the family history of James Coutts Crawford, the suburb's founder. Coutts Crawford was amongst the first permanent European settlers in Wellington. He arrived in September 1839 and set up a farm on the Miramar Peninsula. He named his holdings Overtoun and Seatoun, after family holdings of the Crawford family in Scotland. The area between Nevay and Karaka Bay roads and the old hilltop pa site was first called the Township of Overton.

Amongst the first people to settle the coastline area at what is now Seatoun was James Heberley. Heberley lived with his family at what became Worser Bay. He became pilot at the request of Colonel William Wakefield, who references him in his book Adventures in New Zealand, piloted the ‘Tory’ into Wellington and drowned at Picton in 1899. The bay was originally called Young’s Bay, after a whaler, George Young, who lived in the area around 1834/5. It became Worser Bay after the nickname of Heberley. There are two origin stories for his nickname ‘Worser’. The first is that the correct spelling of his name was Hebley and that he changed it after sending £50 to pay for a brother to come out from England only to find another unwanted, 'worser', brother sent in his place. The second is that Heberley, as a pilot, was known for always stating that the weather was getting ‘worser and worser’.

The first school in the district was opened in 1897 in the Church Hall in Beach Road, with a roll of sixteen students. Seatoun School was established in 1921, separated from Worser Bay to accommodate growing demand.

European settlement properly began in Seatoun around 1899, although still constrained at that point by the fact that the area was accessible only by boat. A tunnel was constructed between 1906-1907, linking the settlement to nearby Strathmore Park and Miramar. This enabled the expansion of the suburb by connecting it to the city centre by electric tram. The historian John Struthers established that the population of Seatoun was less than 1,000 at the time.

In 1911, shortly after the suburb became accessible by tunnel, Fort Dorset, a military base, was built to protect the entrance to Wellington Harbour. This followed construction of a two-gun battery on the top of the ridge at Point Dorset in 1908. It would operate for almost a century before being closed in 1991 and largely demolished in 1998. What remained was used in 1999 as the set for the town of ‘Bree’ and ‘The Prancing Pony Inn’ for the several night shots in The Lord of the Rings before final redevelopment as Seatoun Primary School in 2002.

In 1917, The New Zealand Index proclaimed Seatoun to be:

“A suburb of Wellington, at the Heads. Six miles southeast by daily ferry steamer (8 pence return) or by electric car (tram) from Welington. It is part of the Miramar borough. A favourite seaside resort. No hotel, but good boarding accommodation, stores, tearooms, post and telephone office. One mile from Worser Bay. Electric car opened to Seatoun on December 18, 1907. Nearby is the site of the Oruaiti pa, famous in Māori history. Favourite picnic resort is Breaker Bay, a few minutes walk from here.”

By 1926, Seatoun was still in need of investment. Residents complained about open drains, said the streets had not been maintained since they were built and pointed out a third of the houses in were without proper roads or footpaths.

The settlement's first church service was organized in 1910 in a room at a butcher's shop on Worser Bay. This continued until 1913 when a group of 14 local residents raised funds for the construction of a Presbyterian church on Ventnor Street. That original building now serves as Seatoun Village Hall. It was replaced in 1932 by a new church, St Christopher's, designed by William Fielding, which was opened by the Governor General, Lord Bledisloe. The church contains the 'Wahine Cross', made from wood salvaged from the wreck of the TEV Wahine. The parish was closed in 2013 and the building sold in 2015 to local benefactors who now operate it as a community facility.

The Anglican church of St George was established on Ferry Street in 1946, with the current building, containing striking floral stained-glass windows, constructed in 1957.

The suburb played an important role in the sinking of the inter-island ferry TEV Wahine in 1968, when the ship foundered off the shoreline. Only the four starboard lifeboats could be launched. One lifeboat was swamped shortly after leaving the sinking ship and its occupants were tossed into the sea. Of the other three, one landed at Eastbourne and two at Seatoun. Churchill Park in Seatoun contains a memorial to the disaster. The memorial is formed from one of the Wahine's anchor and chains, with each link in the chain representing the victims of the tragedy. The area also contains replica ship ventilators and visible to the east is Steeple Rock, only a few hundred metres from shore, where the Wahine capsized and sank.

Demographics

Seatoun statistical area, which also includes Breaker Bay, covers 1.33 km² (0.51 sq mi). It had an estimated population of 2,400 as of June 2024, with a population density of 1,805 people per km².

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
2006	2,139	—
2013	2,235	+0.63%
2018	2,319	+0.74%
Source:

Seatoun had a population of 2,319 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 84 people (3.8%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 180 people (8.4%) since the 2006 census. There were 819 households, comprising 1,161 males and 1,158 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.0 males per female. The median age was 43.9 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 495 people (21.3%) aged under 15 years, 321 (13.8%) aged 15 to 29, 1,197 (51.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 306 (13.2%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 86.7% European/Pākehā, 6.2% Māori, 1.2% Pasifika, 10.7% Asian, and 2.6% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 30.0, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 54.7% had no religion, 34.8% were Christian, 0.1% had Māori religious beliefs, 2.3% were Hindu, 0.5% were Muslim, 0.6% were Buddhist and 1.8% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 906 (49.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 126 (6.9%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $54,300, compared with $31,800 nationally. 774 people (42.4%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 963 (52.8%) people were employed full-time, 309 (16.9%) were part-time, and 60 (3.3%) were unemployed.

Education

Seatoun School

Seatoun School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of 405 as of August 2024. The school was founded in 1916. It relocated to a new facility on the old Fort Dorset New Zealand Army base in 2002, near the entrance to the Wellington Harbour.

Other schools

St Anthony's School is a co-educational state-integrated Catholic primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of 56.

Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Nga Mokopuna is a co-educational state Māori language immersion school for Year 1 to 13 students, with a roll of 82.

Notable architecture

There are several buildings in the area which are either of heritage value or were designed by notable architects. These include:

• Frederick de Jersey Clere designed Our Lady Star of the Sea convent chapel on Fettes Crescent which opened in 1924 and is notable due to the innovative design and construction.
• William Fielding designed the heritage-listed St Christopher's church, now a community centre.
• Ian Athfield designed several homes in the area, with examples at 93 and 95 Tio Tio Road (the former in his signature ‘Santorini’ style).
• David Launder, a seminal figure in Wellington architecture in the 1970s and 1980s, designed properties at 91 Tio Tio Road, Ferry Street and his own ‘man overboard’ home at nearby Karaka Bay.

Notable residents

There are various notable people who have lived in Seatoun at one point in their lives, or with connections to the area. These include:

• Sunny Amey, theatre director, grew up in Seatoun.
• Orlando Bloom, actor, lived at nearby Karaka Bay whilst filming the Lord of the Rings series.
• Nathalie Boltt, actress, lives at nearby Seatoun Heights.
• Melvin Day, artist, lived in Seatoun.
• Pat Evison, actress, was a long-time resident of Seatoun.
• Michael J Fox, actor, lived in Seatoun whilst filming The Frighteners.
• Robert Gant, photographer, lived in Seatoun.
• Peter Jackson, film director, lives in Seatoun and owns several local properties.
• Alfred Jenkins, gymnast, played for Seatoun AFC.
• Scarlett Johansson, actress, has lived in Seatoun on several occasions whilst filming in New Zealand.
• Miranda Kerr, model, lived at nearby Karaka Bay with husband Orlando Bloom.
• Norman Kirk, politician, lived in Seatoun whilst Prime Minister of New Zealand, until his death.
• Jonathan Manns, urbanist and developer, lives in Seatoun.
• Rob Morrison, businessman, chairman of Wellington Phoenix, lives in Seatoun.
• Onny Parun, tennis player, lived in Seatoun.
• Catherine Robertson, author, was a long-time resident of Seatoun.
• Stephanie Sinclaire, theatre director, lived in Seatoun.
• Fran Walsh, screenwriter and producer, lives in Seatoun with husband Peter Jackson.
• Naomi Watts, actress, lived in Seatoun whilst filming King Kong.