Patea is the third-largest town in South Taranaki, 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 on the western bank of the Patea River

Patea River

The Patea River is in Taranaki in the North Island of New Zealand. It runs for 105 kilometres from the eastern slopes of Mount Taranaki, passing east through Stratford before swinging south and reaching the South Taranaki Bight near the town of Patea....

, 61 kilometres north-west of Wanganui

Wanganui

Whanganui , also spelled Wanganui, is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Manawatu-Wanganui region....

 on State Highway

State highway

State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...

 3. Hawera

Hawera

Hawera is the second-largest town in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of . It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight, 75 kilometres south of New Plymouth on State Highway 3 and 20 minutes' drive from Mount Taranaki/Egmont.It is also on State Highway 45,...

 is 27 km to the north-west, and Waverley 17 km to the east. The Patea River flows through the town from the north-east and into the South Taranaki Bight

South Taranaki Bight

The South Taranaki Bight is the name given to the large bay which extends south and east from the south coast of Taranaki in New Zealand's North Island. With more symmetry than poetry or originality, it is matched by the North Taranaki Bight to the north of Cape Egmont.The size of the bight...

. The town's name is pronounced approximately as "pah-tay-uh". For the former electorate from 1893 to 1963 see Patea

Patea (New Zealand electorate)

Patea is a former New Zealand electorate, in south Taranaki. It existed from 1893 to 1963.-Geographic coverage:The electorate was based on the town of Patea, which used to have a freezing-works for the preparation of meat for export until 1982.-History:...

.

The population in the 2006 Census was 1143, a decrease of 159 from 2001.

History

Patea, called Carlyle or Carlyle Beach for a time by European settlers, was originally nearer the Patea River mouth than the present town. During the New Zealand land wars

New Zealand land wars

The New Zealand Wars, sometimes called the Land Wars and also once called the Māori Wars, were a series of armed conflicts that took place in New Zealand between 1845 and 1872...

 Patea was an important military settlement. General Cameron's force arrived at the river mouth on 15 January 1865 and constructed redoubt

Redoubt

A redoubt is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, though others are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldiers outside the main defensive line and can be a permanent structure or a...

s on both sides of the river.

Patea became a market town

Market town

Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...

 when hostilities ended. The first of the sections on the present town site were sold in 1870. A local shipping company was established in 1872, and harbour improvements began. The Marton-New Plymouth railway line via Patea was completed in March 1885. The Carlyle Town Board, created about 1877 to administer town affairs, was succeeded by a borough council constituted on 13 October 1881 under the name Patea.

In the 1920s Patea was the largest cheese exporting port in the world. The Grader Cool Store received cheese for grading from all over South Taranaki and as far south as Oroua Downs near Himatangi. After grading it was loaded into coastal ships at the grader wharf for transport to Wellington where it was transhipped into overseas ships for export. The port closed in July 1959.

Patea became known in 1982 as the home of singer Dalvanius Prime

Dalvanius Prime

Maui Dalvanius Prime was a New Zealand entertainer and songwriter. His career spanned 30 years. He mentored many of New Zealand's Māori performers, and was a vocal and forthright supporter of Māori culture.-Early life:...

 and the Patea Māori Club. Their single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

, "Poi E

Poi E (album)

Poi E is an album released by New Zealand Māori culture group the Patea Maori Club. In 1984 the totally Maori language title track Poi-E topped the New Zealand Pop charts for four consecutive weeks, and was that year's biggest selling single - outselling all international recording...

", indicated renewed impetus in contemporary Māori popular music The town again came to national attention in 1982 when the main employer, the Patea Freezing Works, was closed.

Patea Freezing Works

In the early 1880s the predecessor to the Patea Freezing Works was established on the eastern bank of the Patea River. Cool stores for handling dairy produce followed in 1901 with later additions evolving into what became known as the Patea Freezing Co-Op, South Taranaki's primary employer. Strategic reforms, inefficiencies and nationwide over-processing resulted in closure in September 1982. In February 2008 the derelict buildings suffered severe fires. Damage was extensive and with the health hazard presented by asbestos insulation throughout the freezer walls, the town sought demolition. As of March 2010 the site was being split into owners blocks as private property.

The current town

Patea has retained a strong community focus and enjoys many services including a well-resourced medical centre, public swimming pool and trust-owned rest home.

The breakwaters at Patea were started in 1878 and are being refurbished by the South Taranaki District Council.

Patea and surrounding community has a South Taranaki District Council LibraryPlus, which provides a full library service and Council-related services, including dog registration, payment of rates, and building permit enquiries. Other services include a Tot Time for the under 5s, a regular crossword morning and a book club for intermediate and high school children. The LibraryPlus has six APN computers, offering free internet and Skype.

A few miles east of Patea is the small community of Whenuakura

Whenuakura

Whenuakura is a farming community on State Highway 3 east of Patea, at the southern end of Taranaki on the North Island of New Zealand. The boundary between the Taranaki and Wellington provinces runs through Whenuakura. There is the Whenuakura Primary School, Whenuakura dairy factory and Whenuakura...

, where New Zealand golfer Michael Campbell

Michael Campbell

Michael Shane Campbell, CNZM is a New Zealand golfer who is best known for having won the 2005 U.S. Open and the richest prize in golf, the £1,000,000 HSBC World Match Play Championship, in the same year. He is a member of the European Tour.Ethnically, he is predominantly Māori, from the Ngati...

 lived as a child. He learned to play golf at the Patea Golf Club, on the cliffs overlooking the Tasman Sea

Tasman Sea

The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately across. It extends 2,800 km from north to south. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first recorded European...

. He crowned his professional career by winning the US Open

U.S. Open (golf)

The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...

 in June 2005, and three months later the HSBC World Match Play Championship

HSBC World Match Play Championship

The Volvo World Match Play Championship is the current name of an annual match play men's professional golf tournament. From 2009 the event has been played at the Finca Cortesín Golf Club in Casares near Málaga, Spain, having previously been played at Wentworth Club near London...

.

Education

Patea Area School is a composite (years 1-13) school with a roll of 170. Until 2005 the school was Patea High School. It became an area school when Patea Primary School closed. The primary school was founded in 1875.

St Joseph's School is a state integrated Catholic contributing primary (years 1-6) school with a roll of 34. The school was established in January 1904.

Both schools are coeducational and have a decile rating

Socio-Economic Decile

Decile, Socio-Economic Decile or Socio-Economic Decile Band is a widely used measure in education in New Zealand used to target funding and support to more needy schools....

of 1.