Plimmerton:History

Plimmerton has more history than most parts of Porirua.

To 19th century
Settlement by indigenous Māori people took place long before Europeans saw the place. It was known as Tāupo, the home of a great Chief named Te Rauparaha, who was captured by the British in 1846. You can read about that in many other places and you can see a related plaque in Motuhara Road.

In 1879, the building of a railway began, out from Wellington, towards the rest of the North Island along the west coast. Railway company directors bought strategic blocks of land for building villages that would help the line's economics. By 1885, the neck of the eastern arm of the Porirua Harbour had been bridged. One delightful sheltered sandy beach 2 km to the north, west-facing, with a view of the harbour entrance and Mana Island, became the focus of a village named after director John Plimmer (whose family has been prominent in business and political circles in Wellington over two centuries). In 1894 the family built the 32-room Plimmerton House, an accommodation and refreshment stop right beside the railway station platform with the beach a stone's throw beyond.

20th century
By 1900 about 30 holiday cottages and a general store and two private hotels were established. Plimmerton was on the move. Residents of Wellington City had day trips to Plimmerton because it had (and still has) one of the best beaches in the region, especially when the wind is from the south.

The last significant subdivisions came off the junction of Motuhara Road and Corlett Road. What had been a farm access track, shared by agreement with properties that had steep frontages to Motuhara Road, was upgraded in the early 1970s to a full public road and - after consultation with those frontagers - named "The Track". Later the rest of the farm was subdivided, with the road being extended to the hilltop and a legal right-of way retained over the old Taua Tapu track giving public access all the way to the reserve (the former rubbish tip) near the eastern end of Airlie Road.

Taupō Plimmerton Heritage Trail
In 1990 a short heritage rail was created in Plimmerton.

In 2016 a much expanded heritage trail of 35 sites was completed. See map at http://www.plimmerton.nz/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Plimmerton-Heritage-Trail-Map-web-pdf.pdf. Most of the work was done by Deidre Dale, Andrew Deller, and Mary Beckett, who were smilingly depicted on page 4 of the for Sep 27, 2016, a few days after the unveiling of the trail.