Grey Lynn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Grey Lynn | |
|---|---|
| Local Authority | Auckland City |
| Characteristics: | |
| Established | 1880s |
| Surrounded by: | |
| North | Herne Bay |
| North-east | Ponsonby |
| East | Ponsonby |
| South-east | Arch Hill, Kingsland |
| South | Morningside |
| South-west | Western Springs |
| West | Point Chevalier |
| North-west | Westmere |
 Location of Grey Lynn in Auckland. |
|
Grey Lynn is an inner residential suburb of Auckland City, New Zealand. Grey Lynn is located three kilometres to the west of the city centre, and was originally a separate borough. Grey Lynn amalgamated with Auckland City in 1914.
The former Borough Council Chambers and Fire Station building still stands at the Ponsonby Road end of Williamson Avenue, this brick building dates from 1889 and was designed by John Mitchell. It resembles many American fire stations of the period.
[edit] History of Grey Lynn
Grey Lynn is named for Sir George Grey, (April 14, 1812–September 19, 1898) Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Governor of Cape Colony (South Africa), Premier of New Zealand and towards the end of his life Member Of Parliament for Auckland West.
The original subdivision was of 900 acres (3.6 km²) of land, which is still the formal extent of Grey Lynn. Most of the houses were built around the same time (1880s to the time of the First World War) so they present a visual consistency. As very few of the houses have been completely replaced by new structures Grey Lynn is reputedly the largest concentration of wooden 19th century houses in the world.
Williamson Avenue and Crummer Road are two of the major streets in Grey Lynn. James Williamson and Thomas Crummer were joint owners of a farm in this area. In 1883 Williamson & Crummer sold the property to the Auckland Agricultural Company which was headed by Thomas Russell. The "Surrey Hills" farm was subdivided into 272 building sections forming the suburb between Surrey Crescent and the southern end of Ponsonby Road. The Grey Lynn shops are located at the intersection of Great North Road and Williamson Avenue.
At the corner of Crummer Road and Ponsonby Road stands the large 1890s Italianate Mansion of George Allen, a Saddle & Harness Maker. "Allendale" is a local landmark, having been successively a Doctors Surgery, Maori Girls Hostel, Boarding House, Refuge for Alcoholic Men, and a Restaurant. In the 1990s it was purchased by the ASB Community Trust as its headquarters and restored.
Grey Lynn is centred around Grey Lynn Park which was not part of the original subdivision of 1883 since the land was too steep and too wet to build houses on. In 1914 the land was drained and levelled for playing fields. The park is noted for the annual Grey Lynn Festival which attracts around 100,000 visitors on the third Saturday in November each year.
In March 2006 Grey Lynn Park played host to the Lightspeed festival, an event celebrating the end of summer and end of daylight saving time. The 2006 event hosted the popular New Zealand reggae dub band Fat Freddys Drop.
Grey Lynn Park is the home ground of the Richmond Rovers rugby league club.
Following the advent of suburbs premised on private car ownership, in the 1950s much of inner Auckland became unfashionable and rundown. Places like Grey Lynn and Ponsonby came to be widely regarded as declasse; rents were low attracting students and immigrant workers from the Pacific Islands. Grey Lynn developed quite a Polynesian flavour, although in recent years this has greatly diminished. There are still a large number of Tongan and Samoan churches in the area, and beautiful choral singing can often be heard on a Sunday morning.
Replicating urban political economic patterns in New Zealand and globally, many of the Kauri villas have been renovated in a wave of "gentrification" begun in the 1990s and inevitably accompanied by increases in house prices and rents. Similarly, in the 1990s and acclerating into the 2000s, the suburb has seen the increasing substitution of traditional low-end retail enterprises with both major corporate projects such as Woolworths Grey Lynn, the Subway Sandwiches Restaurant development in the Civic Video Building which used to house Grey Lynn's local movie cinema (The Cameo Theatre) and more boutique shops catering to the monied middle-classes. The influx of middle-class and Pākehā peoples has resulted in a reduction of student flats and the slow but steady displacement of Polynesian families. A number of recent housing developments in the suburb have attracted controversy due to their contribution to an increase in population density, and are potentially viewable as out of character with the area's original timber villas.
The suburb is by Auckland standards well served by public transport although part of its attraction for many of its residents is that it lies within walking distance to the CBD via Ponsonby. Buses run down Great North and Richmond Roads, and Williamson Avenue.
Historically part of the central government electorate of Auckland Central, the suburb has generally voted for New Zealand Labour Party candidates. However, the increasing gentification described above may see a move to the centre-right in the suburb's aggregated future voting patterns. Green Party candidates have also done well in the area, with the suburb also hosting some organic-industry shops, and anti-GE/GM foods stickers being a common sight on cars parked on the suburb's streets and its houses' mailboxes in the mid-2000s.
[edit] References
- The Heart of Colonial Auckland, 1865-1910. Terence Hodgson. Random Century NZ Ltd 1992.
- Colonial Architecture In New Zealand. John Stacpoole. A.H & A.W Reed 1976
- Decently And In Order, The Centennial History of the Auckland City Council. G.W.A Bush. Collins 1971.
- Auckland Through A Victorian Lens. William Main. Millwood Press 1977.
- Ponsonby Heritage Walks. Tania Mace. Ponsonby Road Productions 2005.
