Sheffield, New Zealand
Sheffield is a small village located in the Selwyn District of the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island, near the Waimakariri Gorge.
Sheffield has a close association with its neighbouring village Waddington, which is further south-east along State Highway 73. The two villages share a community committee.
The two villages are located between Darfield and Springfield on State Highway 73 and the Midland Line railway. The towns were settled in the 19th century by farmers attracted to the area for sheep grazing.
Sheffield has a railway station and was once a railway junction. The first railway line reached the town in the late 1870s from a junction in Darfield with the Whitecliffs Branch. This line, then known as the Malvern Branch line, grew to become the Midland Line between Christchurch and the West Coast. On 28 July 1884, the Oxford Branch was extended over the Waimakariri River to Sheffield, making the town a railway junction. Plans existed to continue this extension south from Sheffield as part of the proposed Canterbury Interior Main Line, but this never came to fruition and the rail link with Oxford closed on 14 July 1930.
Demographics
Sheffield and Waddington are described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement. They cover and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. They are part of the statistical area of Torlesse. Sheffield covers.Sheffield had a population of 99 at the 2018 New Zealand census, a decrease of 12 people since the 2013 census, and an increase of 24 people since the 2006 census. There were 33 households, comprising 48 males and 51 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.94 males per female. The median age was 42.8 years, with 24 people aged under 15 years, 18 aged 15 to 29, 51 aged 30 to 64, and 9 aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 90.9% European/Pākehā, 3.0% Māori, 9.1% Asian, and 3.0% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 51.5% had no religion, and 33.3% were Christian.
Of those at least 15 years old, 9 people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 24 people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $34,800, compared with $31,800 nationally. 15 people earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 39 people were employed full-time, and 12 were part-time.