Featherston is a town in the north of the Wellington Region

Wellington Region

The Wellington region of New Zealand occupies the southern end of the North Island.-Governance:The official Wellington Region, as administered by the Wellington Regional Council covers the conurbation around the capital city, Wellington, and the cities of Lower Hutt, Porirua, and Upper Hutt, each...

 region of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It lies in the Wairarapa

Wairarapa

Wairarapa is a geographical region of New Zealand. It occupies the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service towns, with Masterton being the largest...

, just north of the Rimutaka Tunnel

Rimutaka Tunnel

The Rimutaka Tunnel is a railway tunnel through New Zealand's Rimutaka Ranges, between Maymorn, near Upper Hutt, and Featherston, on the Wairarapa Line.The tunnel, which was opened to traffic on 3 November 1955, is long...

, in the South Wairarapa District. The population was 2,340 in the 2006 Census.

The town is on the eastern side of the Rimutaka Range

Rimutaka Range

The Rimutaka Range is one of several mountain ranges in the North Island of New Zealand which form a ridge running parallel with the east coast of the island between East Cape and Wellington.The ridge is at its most pronounced in the southern part of the island, where it consists of the Ruahine,...

 close to the northern shore of Lake Wairarapa

Lake Wairarapa

Lake Wairarapa is a lake at the southern end of the North Island of New Zealand, 50 kilometers east of Wellington. The lake covers an area of 78 km², and is the third largest in the North Island, fractionally smaller than Lake Rotorua...

. It is 37 km south-west of Masterton

Masterton

Masterton is a large town and local government district in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a region separated from Wellington by the Rimutaka ranges...

 and 63 km north-east of Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

.

History

The Featherston Military Training Camp was a major training camp in World War I. In World War II it became the Featherston prisoner of war camp

Featherston prisoner of war camp

Featherston prisoner of war camp was a camp for captured Japanese soldiers during World War II at Featherston, New Zealand. It had been established during World War I as the largest military training camp in New Zealand. At the request of the United States, in September 1942 it was re-established...

. The town gained notoriety in 1943 when 122 Japanese Prisoners of War in the camp were shot (48 dead, 74 wounded), after guards believed they were about to be attacked by the prisoners.

Recreation and Sport

Featherston houses the world's only surviving Fell locomotive engine

Fell mountain railway system

The Fell system uses a raised centre rail between the two running rails on steeply-graded railway lines to provide extra traction and braking, or braking alone. Trains are propelled by wheels or braked by shoes pressed horizontally onto the centre rail, as well as by means of the normal running...

 in the Fell Engine Museum

Fell Engine Museum

The Fell Engine Museum in Featherston, New Zealand, is a museum based around the only remaining Fell railway locomotive in the world.This locomotive, number H 199, climbed up the Rimutaka Incline using John Barraclough Fell's unique method of four grip wheels on a raised center rail.H 199 is one...

. A popular local walking track leads to the summit of One Tree Hill (not to be confused with the One Tree Hill

One Tree Hill, New Zealand

One Tree Hill is a 182 metre volcanic peak located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is an important memorial place for both Māori and other New Zealanders...

 in Auckland). More information on town reserves and walks is available from the Featherston Walkways and Reserves Trust.

Featherston has various sporting clubs including the rugby union football club, a hockey club , athletics club, swimming club and an indoor sports complex which hosts various activities such as badminton, gymnastic clubs and a well running wrestling club amongst others.

Education

There are two primary schools within Featherston; St. Teresa's School and Featherston School. Kahutara Primary and South Featherston School are nearby. Featherston once had a secondary school (Featherston District High School) that closed in the mid 1960s.

Notable people

• Robert Algie, a wrestler from Featherston. He won a silver medal in the heavy-weight division at the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games in 1986
  New Zealand at the 1986 Commonwealth Games
  New Zealand sent a team of 128 competitors and 45 officials to the 1986 Commonwealth Games, which were held in Edinburgh, Scotland. The flagbearer at the opening ceremony was Stephanie Foster....
  
  , and gold medals at the Oceania Champs in Brisbane in 1981, and Auckland in 1986. Algie placed 12th at the World Championships in France in 1987