INGLEWOOD

Inglewood is situated on gently undulating land in the northern part of the Taranaki ring plain, Mount Egmont (8,260 ft) rising immediately to the south-west. The highway and the railway between New Plymouth and Wanganui pass through Ingle-wood. New Plymouth, the nearest city and main port, is 13 miles north-west by road (17 miles by rail), and Stratford is 14 miles south-east by road or rail. The surrounding land is devoted primarily to dairy farming, with associated sheep and cattle farming. Inglewood is a trade and servicing centre. A dairy factory in the town produces butter, cheese, and casein. Other industries include a toy factory, clothing factory, a perambulator factory, and the manufacture of concrete products, the processing of bacon and ham, and general engineering and joinery.

The town site was originally within forested country. A settlement came into existence about 1873 associated with a large sawmill working in what was called the Moa Block. The first sale of sections took place in February 1874. With forest clearance and the establishment of the dairy industry, Inglewood grew as a market town. It is stated that it was intended to call the township Milton, but as it occupied a corner, or ingle, in the bush, the name Inglewood was chosen. The name Moa, however, appears to have persisted in official nomenclature for many years. In 1878 the Moa Road Board was appointed to administer the town affairs. The Moa Town District was created in 1885 and in 1902, under the name of Inglewood, the town was constituted a borough.

POPULATION: 1951 census, 1,540; 1956 census, 1,682; 1961 census, 1,884.

by Brian Newton Davis, M.A., Vicar, St. Philips, Karori West, Wellington and Edward Stewart Dollimore, Research Officer, Department of Lands and Survey, Wellington.