Arch Hill, New Zealand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Suburb: | Arch Hill |
City: | Auckland |
Island: | North Island |
Surrounded by - to the north |
Ponsonby Newton |
Arch Hill is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand.
Arch Hill is under the local governance of the Auckland City Council.
According to the 2001 census, Arch Hill has a population of 1248.
The reason Arch Hill is called such is very unclear, it appears to refer to no local structure or person, nor to any other place. It was a common habit in the 19th century for placenames from Great Britain and in particular London to be used in New Zealand, however there doesn't appear to be any other place with this name.
In 1730 this may have been the site of the "Cracked Waterbowl Attack" :Telpu Pakore. This battle between two warring Maori tribes probably happened along this ridge, possibly around the Arch Hill area.
The Arch Hill electorate was created for the 1946 elections, being formed out of portions of Auckland Central, Auckland West, and Grey Lynn electorates.
For much of the 19th century this area was mostly farmland, much of the housing dates from around the turn of the 20th century and are often small workers cottages or 1920s bungalow style residences, sections are often tiny and off street parking usually non-existent. As Arch Hill faces south away from the sun it is and always was a less desirable location than either neighbouring Grey Lynn or Kingsland. A certain amount of light industrial business has replaced parts of the housing stock with one & two story high commercial properties.
Before the north-western motorway was cut through many of the streets running down from Great North Road linked up with those in Kingsland. Now the only through road is Bond Street, the others have become quiet cul-de-sacs. Despite its south facing/shady outlook and a certain amount of noise from the motorway Arch Hill's proximity to the CBD of Auckland means its houses command surprisingly high prices.