Hororata is a small settlement at the northwestern edge of the Canterbury Plains

Canterbury Plains

The Canterbury Plains are an area in New Zealand centred to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury Region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and in the south they merge into the plains of North Otago beyond the Waitaki...

 in the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

 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 is located 15 kilometres southwest of Darfield

Darfield, New Zealand

Darfield is a town in the Selwyn District of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located 35 kilometres west from the outskirts of Christchurch, New Zealand on State Highway 73 and the town is on the Midland railway line, route of the famous TranzAlpine train service...

, five kilometres south of Glentunnel

Glentunnel

Glentunnel is a small village in the Selwyn District of the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It is officially recognised as a "populated area less than a town". The 2001 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings gave Glentunnel's population as 129...

, and 50 kilometres west of Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

, on the banks of the Hororata River

Hororata River

The Hororata River is a river of Canterbury, in the South Island of New Zealand. A tributary of the Selwyn River, the Hororata has its sources in rough hill country north of Windwhistle, and flows east through the township of Hororata before reaching the Selwyn 12 kilomewtres northwest of...

.

Hororata sustained some damage in the 2010 Canterbury earthquake

2010 Canterbury earthquake

The 2010 Canterbury earthquake was a 7.1 magnitude earthquake, which struck the South Island of New Zealand at 4:35 am on local time ....

 of September 4, 2010. The settlement's most prominent building, the Anglican church of St. John, was badly affected; part of its tower collapsed onto the church's roof.

New Zealand 19th century Premier John Hall is buried in the St. John cemetery.