Thorndon
Thorndon residents often stroll to work; it’s only minutes from the CBD, with equally easy access to the Botanic Gardens. In Wellington’s earliest days Thorndon was where “lived mostly everyone who was somebody” – the Anglican establishment was particularly attracted to the area which was considered more upper class than its rival, Mt Victoria. Right back in 1870, Hobson Street was nicknamed ‘Snobson Street’.
So it’s not surprising Thorndon has some beautiful old houses (mostly carefully renovated), several good restaurants (Tinakori Bistro and Aubergine) and one of Wellington’s best-known Italian restaurants (Maria Mia). Its stylish shops attract shoppers from a wide area, it has one of central Wellington’s biggest supermarkets (New World, in a converted brewery) and Molesworth Fruit Supplies has supplied exotic greengroceries and fresh herbs for generations.
Thorndon has two of Wellington’s top girls’ schools (Queen Margaret, private; Wellington Girls’ colleges, state) and the much-loved, outdoor Thorndon Pool (only open in the warmer months and regarded as one of Wellington’s treasures).
Residents are well served with cathedrals with Sacred Heart (Roman Catholic) and St Paul’s (Anglican); it also has one of the country’s prettiest old churches, Old St Paul’s, saved from demolition in the 1970s by public outcry. New Zealand’s beloved writer Katherine Mansfield was born at 25 Tinakori Road (now the Katherine Mansfield House). Thorndon is home to the Westpac Stadium, the National Library (good exhibitions) and many major government buildings – including Parliament. There’s a classy annual fair in early December and a farmers’ market held on Saturday mornings next to St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral. Steep, forested Tinakori Hill, rising 300 metres behind Thorndon, is part of the Town Belt; after severe storms in 2004, the lower slopes were cleared and replanted with native trees.
Tinakori is a misspelling of 'tina kahore' meaning 'without dinner’, because during the construction of Tinakori Road, road makers worked all day without stopping for lunch. The Shepherd’s Arms pub, built in 1842, once had large stables to rest horses for the daily Karori coach service before their return journey; the horses were shoed at the blacksmith opposite the pub (now the site of Wilmor Flats).
Thorndon’s name commemorates Thorndon Hall, the Essex home of Lord Petre (a prominent member of the New Zealand Company); members of the Petre family still live in the greater Wellington area. Wellington’s founder, William Wakefield, and other early settlers are buried in Thorndon’s historic Bolton Street Cemetery although when the Wellington motorway was built in the 1960s, many of the graves were destroyed and 3,693 early settlers were re-interred in a mass grave.
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Tinakori Village |