Inglewood, New Zealand

Inglewood
A view of Inglewood from Lincoln Road, with Mount Taranaki in the background, hidden by cloud
Coordinates: 39°9′S 174°12′E / 39.150°S 174.200°E / -39.150; 174.200
Country	New Zealand
Region	Taranaki Region
Territorial authority	New Plymouth District
Ward	Kōhanga Moa General Ward Te Purutanga Mauri Pūmanawa Māori Ward
Community	Inglewood Community
Electorates	Taranaki-King Country Te Tai Hauāuru (Māori)
Government
• Territorial Authority	New Plymouth District Council
• Regional council	Taranaki Regional Council
Area [1]
• Total	3.18 km2 (1.23 sq mi)
Population  (June 2024)[2]
• Total	3,960
• Density	1,200/km2 (3,200/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	4330

Inglewood is a town in the Taranaki Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is 16 kilometres (10 mi) southeast of New Plymouth on State Highway 3, close to Mount Taranaki, and sits 200 metres (660 ft) above sea level. The town services a mainly dairy farming region.

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.^[3]

The railway reached Inglewood in 1877,^[4] 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 (which was the fourth largest dairy factory in New Zealand) before it was shut down in favour of centralised processing near Hāwera.^[5]

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.^[6] 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,^[7][8] bizarre^[9][10][11] and barbaric.^[12][13] 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".^[11]

Studies lend some support to this claim. While the national murder rate is about two per hundred thousand per annum, my hometown boasts a rate of twenty five per hundred thousand—not alarming by US standards (Inglewood, California has thirteen murders per thousand yet is safer than 25 percent of cities in the U.S.), but troubling for New Zealanders. It isn't just the discrepancy between the pastoral appearance of my hometown and its hidden history of violence that is so mystifying; it is the brutal and bizarre form that this violence takes.

— Michael D. Jackson, Harmattan: A Philosophical Fiction (Insurrections: Critical Studies in Religion, Politics, and Culture)

A number of buildings are listed by Heritage New Zealand. The Railway Station and Yard is listed as Category I.^[14] The Shoe Store Building on the corner of Rata and Richmond Streets is one of eight listed as Category II.^[15]

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.^[16][17]

In October 2020, the Government committed $817,845 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade it and Muru Raupatu marae, creating 15 jobs.^[18]

Inglewood covers 3.18 km² (1.23 sq mi)^[1] and had an estimated population of 3,960 as of June 2024,^[2] with a population density of 1,245 people per km².

Before the 2023 census, the town had a smaller boundary, covering 2.94 km² (1.14 sq mi).^[1] Using that boundary, Inglewood had a population of 3,543 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 300 people (9.3%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 456 people (14.8%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,404 households, comprising 1,707 males and 1,836 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.93 males per female. The median age was 38.4 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 741 people (20.9%) aged under 15 years, 654 (18.5%) aged 15 to 29, 1,503 (42.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 648 (18.3%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 91.1% European/Pākehā, 14.4% Māori, 2.3% Pacific peoples, 2.5% Asian, and 1.6% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 11.6, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 55.9% had no religion, 33.3% were Christian, 0.3% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.4% were Hindu, 0.1% were Muslim, 0.1% were Buddhist and 1.4% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 312 (11.1%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 738 (26.3%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $29,300, compared with $31,800 nationally. 339 people (12.1%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,371 (48.9%) people were employed full-time, 414 (14.8%) were part-time, and 96 (3.4%) were unemployed.^[19]

Inglewood has a number of coeducational schools.

Inglewood High School is a secondary (years 9–13) school with a roll of 540.^[20] The school was established in 1957.^[21]

Inglewood Primary School and St Patrick's School are full primary (years 1–8) schools with rolls of 405^[22] and 53,^[23] respectively. Inglewood Primary School was founded in 1875.^[24] St Patrick's is a state integrated Catholic school.^[25]

Rolls are as of August 2024.^[26]

Inglewood has produced four All Blacks (John Major, Handley Brown, Dave "Trapper" Loveridge, Chris Masoe), and a leading contemporary artist, Michael Stevenson, who represented New Zealand at the 2003 Venice Biennale.^[27]

Other notable people include:

• Fleur Beale (née Corney; born 1945), fiction writer
• Henry Brown (1842–1921), sawmiller and Member of the House of Representatives (1896–1899)^[28]
• Fiona Clark (born 1954), photographer
• Harry Kerr (1879–1951), athlete
• Margaret Sparrow (born 1935), medical doctor and reproductive rights activist
• Ben Hana a.k.a. Blanket Man (1957–2012), Wellington identity, famous for wearing only a blanket
• Bill Sullivan (1891–1967), politician

• 125th anniversary of Fritz Reuter Polish settlers in Taranaki, 1876-2001, New Plymouth, [N.Z.]: Polish Genealogical Society of New Zealand, 2003
• All about Fritz Reuter Place, 1875-2002, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: Florinda Lambert, 2002
• Heritage trail: Inglewood walkway, New Plymouth, [N.Z.]: Mainstreets Inglewood, c. 1996
• Inglewood County, Wellington, [N.Z.]: New Zealand Historic Places Trust, 1982
• Bade, David (2006), Nineteenth century West Prussian/Polish immigrants to Taranaki: identity, culture and impact on present-day Taranaki, Auckland, [N.Z.]: David Bade
• Brown, Robert W. (n.d.), Index to Te Moa: 100 years history of the Inglewood community, 1875-1975, n.p.: n.p.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
• Brown, Robert W. (1975), Te Moa: 100 years history of the Inglewood community, 1875-1975, Inglewood, [N.Z.] ; New Plymouth, [N.Z.]: Masterprint Press
• Cornwall, Joyce (1993), Upper Durham Road : a Taranaki history, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: Durham C.W.I.
• Denne, Carolyn (1991), Inglewood: an environmental area (B.R.P. (Hons.), Massey University)
• Lambert, Florinda Louise (Floss) (1991), All about Inglewood, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: Florinda Lambert
• Pobog-Jaworowski, J.W. (1977), Polish settlers in Taranaki, 1876-1976, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: Taranaki Polish Centennial Committee
• Smillie, Dorrie; Broadmore, Urban (1993), 100 years of Dudley School and district, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: The School
• Stewart, Derek W. (c. 1970), Inglewood and the Moa District in 1875, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: Inglewood Borough Council

• 19 years of drama: Inglewood Dramatic Society, 1975, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: Inglewood Dramatic Society, 1975
• Inglewood: stories and poems of Inglewood, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: G. Gibson for the Inglewood Writer's Group, c. 2000
• Mackie, Selina; Ertel, David (2006), Inglewood Dramatic Society Incorporated: celebrating 50 years of exceptional theatre, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: Inglewood Dramatic Society

• Brown, Robert W. (c. 1988), A collection of papers on the history of the Brown family, the Rev. Henry Handley Brown and the sawmilling firm of Henry Brown and Co. Ltd, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: R. W. Brown
• Gifford, John E. (1963), 100 years of timber: a history of Henry Brown, "the founder of Inglewood" and the company he founded, New Plymouth, [N.Z.]: Taranaki Newspapers
• Griffin, R. H. (1978), BNZ Inglewood: a century of service, 1878-1978, Wellington, [N.Z.]: BNZ Archives

Anglican

• All about St. Andrew's Anglican Church, Inglewood and, other Anglican churches in the outer Inglewood district, n.p.: n.p., n.d.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
• Brown, Robert W. (1969), A short history of the parochial district of Saint Andrew's, Inglewood, Inglewood, [N.Z.] ; New Plymouth, [N.Z.]: R. W. Brown ; Taranaki Newspapers

Catholic

• Julian, Pat (2000), A history of the Sacred Heart Parish, Inglewood, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: P. Julian

Methodist

• Ashworth, John Cyril Robert (1946), Souvenir to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Inglewood Methodist Church, 1876-1946, New Plymouth, [N.Z.]: Taranaki Daily News

• Inglewood: stories and poems of Inglewood, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: G. Gibson for the Inglewood Writer's Group, c. 2000
• Inglewood Fire Brigade & Ambulance: station opening, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: Inglewood Fire Brigade, 1999
• Dickson, T. H.; Hammonds, J. K. (1996), Lodge Moa No. 110 : 100 years, 1896-1996, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: The Lodge
• Mackie, G. Helen, ed. (1998), Inglewood United Rugby Football Club centennial, 1898-1998, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: The Club
• Mackie, Selina; Ertel, David (2006), Inglewood Dramatic Society Incorporated: celebrating 50 years of exceptional theatre, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: Inglewood Dramatic Society

• Franks, John A. (1980), Ngatoro Stream Catchment, Stratford, [N.Z.]: Taranaki Catchment Commission

• New Zealand Department of Lands & Survey (1984), Map of New Plymouth, Oakura, Inglewood, Waitara (3rd. ed.), Wellington, [N.Z.]: Department of Lands and Survey, New Zealand

NOTE: Scale = 1: 12 500

• New Zealand Department of Lands & Survey (1987), Streetfinder New Plymouth: Oakura, Waitara, Inglewood (4th. ed.), Wellington, [N.Z.]: New Zealand Department of Lands and Survey

NOTE: Scale = 1: 15 000

• New Zealand Department of Lands & Survey (1995), Streetfinder New Plymouth: Inglewood, Oakura, Okato, Urenui, Waitara (5th. ed.), Wellington, [N.Z.]: New Zealand Department of Lands and Survey

NOTE: Scale = 1: 15 000

• 125th anniversary of Fritz Reuter Polish settlers in Taranaki, 1876-2001, New Plymouth, [N.Z.]: Polish Genealogical Society of New Zealand, 2003
• Bade, David (2006), Nineteenth century West Prussian/Polish immigrants to Taranaki: identity, culture and impact on present-day Taranaki, Auckland, [N.Z.]: David Bade
• Brown, Robert W. (c. 1988), A collection of papers on the history of the Brown family, the Rev. Henry Handley Brown and the sawmilling firm of Henry Brown and Co. Ltd, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: R. W. Brown
• Gifford, John E. (1963), 100 years of timber: a history of Henry Brown, "the founder of Inglewood" and the company he founded, New Plymouth, [N.Z.]: Taranaki Newspapers
• Lambert, Florinda Louise (Floss); Dobson, Mary (n.d.), Honours awarded to Inglewood people, n.p.: n.p.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
• Lambert, Florinda Louise (Floss); Dobson, Mary (2001), Inglewood awards and outstanding citizens, New Plymouth, [N.Z.]: New Plymouth Library
• Poletti, Margaret (c. 1998), The Inglewood Laurences, Papakura, [N.Z.]: M. Poletti

• Inglewood High School 25th jubilee celebrations, 4–6 June 1982, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: Jubilee Committee, 1982
• Waitoriki School 125 years, 1880-2005, Waitoriki, [N.Z.]: Waitoriki School Jubilee Committee, 2005
• St. Patrick's Convent School, Inglewood: 75th jubilee, May 29–30-31, 1981, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: St. Patrick's Convent School Jubilee Committee, 1981
• Hunt, Janet (2007), Three cheers fifty years: Inglewood High School, 1957-2007, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: Inglewood High School History Publication Committee
• Richardson, Diane (2000), Inglewood Primary School 125th jubilee : Easter 2000, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: Inglewood Primary School
• Smillie, Dorrie; Broadmore, Urban (1993), 100 years of Dudley School and district, Inglewood, [N.Z.]: The School

• Inglewood - Community Website.
• Inglewood High School website
• Fun Ho! Toy Museum and Factory