Inglewood, New Zealand


Inglewood is a town in the Taranaki Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is southeast of New Plymouth on State Highway 3, close to Mount Taranaki, and sits above sea level. The town services a mainly dairy farming region.

History

The settlement was founded in 1873 and was originally called Moatown. The name was then changed to Milton, before ultimately being renamed to Inglewood in 1875 to avoid confusion with Milton in the South Island.
The railway reached Inglewood in 1877, connecting it with New Plymouth as part of the first extension of what is now the Marton–New Plymouth line.
Until 1991, Inglewood was home to the Moa-Nui Co-operative Dairies factory before it was shut down in favour of centralised processing near Hāwera.
From 1949 until the late 1980s, Inglewood was home to Fun Ho! Toys, a manufacturer of collectible die cast metal toys and one of New Zealand's largest toy companies. The factory shut down in 1987 but a museum in the town still exists with over 3000 toys on display.
Despite its small population, the town has gained notoriety from a string of violent crimes which tend toward the gruesome, bizarre and barbaric. A 2015 book by the anthropologist Michael D. Jackson refers to "Inglewood's violent past" and "the popular claim that Inglewood is the 'murder capital' and 'psychopathic centre' of New Zealand".

Historic buildings

A number of buildings are listed by Heritage New Zealand. Inglewood Railway Station and Yard is listed as Category I. The Shoe Store Building on the corner of Rata and Richmond Streets and the band rotunda on the corner of Rata and Moa Streets are listed as Category II.

Marae

Te Kōhanga Moa Marae is located in Inglewood. It features the Matamua meeting house, and is affiliated with the Te Āti Awa hapū of Pukerangiora.
In October 2020, the Government committed $817,845 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade it and Muru Raupatu marae, creating 15 jobs.

Demographics

Stats NZ describes Inglewood as a small urban area, which covers. It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2.
Inglewood had a population of 3,801 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 246 people since the 2018 census, and an increase of 546 people since the 2013 census. There were 1,845 males, 1,950 females, and 9 people of other genders in 1,497 dwellings. 2.4% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 38.5 years. There were 789 people aged under 15 years, 645 aged 15 to 29, 1,623 aged 30 to 64, and 741 aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 90.7% European ; 16.8% Māori; 2.1% Pasifika; 3.2% Asian; 0.6% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders ; and 2.8% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 97.2%, Māori by 2.5%, Samoan by 0.3%, and other languages by 4.0%. No language could be spoken by 2.4%. New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.6%. The percentage of people born overseas was 12.8, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 28.9% Christian, 0.4% Hindu, 0.3% Māori religious beliefs, 0.2% Buddhist, 0.6% New Age, 0.1% Jewish, and 1.2% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 59.3%, and 9.2% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 432 people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 1,794 had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 780 people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $38,100, compared with $41,500 nationally. 189 people earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 1,509 full-time, 420 part-time, and 57 unemployed.

Education

Inglewood has a number of coeducational schools.
Inglewood High School is a secondary school with a roll of. The school was established in 1957.
Inglewood Primary School and St Patrick's School are full primary schools with rolls of and, respectively. Inglewood Primary School was founded in 1875. St Patrick's is a state integrated Catholic school. St Patrick's was established in 1906 and moved to its current site in 1926.
Rolls are as of

Notable people

Inglewood has produced four All Blacks.
Other notable people include:

Churches

Anglican
Catholic
'Methodist'''''

Maps

NOTE: Scale = 1: 12 500
NOTE: Scale = 1: 15 000
NOTE: Scale = 1: 15 000