Woolston, New Zealand

Woolston
Christchurch from the Port Hills; Woolston is the northern part of the industrial area in between
Woolston
Coordinates: 43°33′S 172°41′E / 43.550°S 172.683°E / -43.550; 172.683Coordinates: 43°33′S 172°41′E / 43.550°S 172.683°E / -43.550; 172.683
Area
• Total	2.9946 km2 (1.1562 sq mi)
Population (2006)
• Total	5,733
• Density	1,900/km2 (5,000/sq mi)

Woolston is a light industrial and residential suburb of Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. It is situated three kilometres southeast of the city centre, close to major arterial routes including State Highways 74 and 76 to Banks Peninsula. The Heathcote River flows through the suburb.

In pre-European times the local Māori people gathered food from the mudflats at Ferrymead. The Māori name for the mudflats was "Ohika paruparu" (meaning women gathering shellfish often sank to their thighs in the mud). Some early European records name the western area of Woolston as Roimata, meaning teardrop in Māori. To this day some land titles in this area reference Roimata as their location. More recently the name has been revived by the Roimata Community Incorporated Society (Roimata Community Inc.), which is a geographically and community-based organisation working in Roimata. Its boundaries are defined as Ensors Road, Brougham Street, Ferry Road and Richardson Terrace.

One of the first signs of a growing European community in the Woolston area was the establishment of a Christian church, the Anglican Parish of St John the Evangelist Woolston, which belongs to the Christchurch diocese. The origins of the Parish date back to 1857 when the first Cob Church was built on the current site. In 1882 a new timber church was built. In 1960 the existing concrete Church building was built and dedicated (consecrated 1963). These church buildings are used daily for worship and many other religious and community activities. It is open to the public on Sundays. It is situated on Ferry Road at the eastern end of Woolston Village. The Parish was officially recognised one year after Christchurch was officially recognised as a City in 1856, the same year that the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch was established. St Johns is one of the oldest Churches in New Zealand.

Woolston initially belonged to the Heathcote District. In the 1850s and 1860s, wharves along the Heathcote River were used by small ships to service the area. Before the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel was opened in 1867, all the incoming trade arrived in Ferrymead and was transported through Woolston (along Ferry Road) into Christchurch. The road went from the wharf in Lower Heathcote to what is now the corner of High and Madras Streets. The area became quite industrialised after the tunnel opened. Ferry Road later carried the tramlines to Sumner.