Dannevirke


Dannevirke, is a rural service town in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of the North Island, New Zealand. It is the major town of the administrative of the Tararua District, the easternmost of the districts of which the Horizons Regional Council has responsibilities.
The surrounding area, a catchment and source of the Manawatu River has developed into dairy, beef cattle and sheep farming, which now provides the major income for the town's population of.

History

Before European settlers arrived in the 1870s, the line of descent for Maori in the area was from the Kurahaupō waka. The tribe of the area is Rangitāne, with geographic distinction to Te Rangiwhakaewa in the immediate Dannevirke region. The first known 'Aotea' meeting house was established approximately 15 generations ago followed by the building of a marae at Makirikiri near Dannevirke at about the same time as the first Nordic settlers arrived from Napier and Hawkes Bay.
The town was founded on 15 October 1872 by Danish, Norwegian and Swedish settlers, adherents of Scandinavism, who arrived at the port of Napier and moved inland. The settlers, who arrived under the Public Works Act, built their initial settlement in a clearing of the Seventy Mile Bush.
The Dannevirke after which the town was named is an extensive Viking Age fortification line in Denmark which had a strong emotive symbolic role for 19th-century Danes, especially after the site had fallen into German hands in the German-Danish War of 1864 - a recent and very painful event for these settlers. The settlement quickly earned the nickname of "sleeper town", as the town's purpose was to provide totara sleepers for the Napier - Wellington railway line. At one stage the area had 50 operating sawmills. After the native bush was cleared, the land was turned into pasture for grazing animals.
On 27 October 1917 much of the town's business district was destroyed by fire. The fire had started in the Andrew's Hotel on the corner of High and Station Streets at about 2pm. Flames blew across the road engulfing the Dannevirke Co-operative Association's store. As the fire spread through adjoining shops another hotel, the Masonic was engulfed. By about 5pm the Dannevirke and Woodville Fire Brigades, along with assistance from the local community had brought the fires under control. In total 27 business premises and 2 hotels were destroyed with damage estimated at £200,000.

Culture

Dannevirke has three marae of the Rangitāne tribe and its hapū ; each marae has a wharenui. Kaitoki Mare is affiliated with the Ngāti Pakapaka and Ngāti Te Rangiwhakaewa hapū, and includes the Kaitoki Memorial Hall. Mākirikiri is affiliated with Ngāti Mutuahi and Ngāti Te Rangiwhakaewa hapū, and includes the Aotea Tuatoru wharenui. Whiti te Rā marae, also known as Poherau marae, is affiliated with Ngāti Mutuahi hapū, and includes Whiti te Rā wharenui.
Totara College hosts the Dannevirke Garden and Craft Expo, an annual event that has grown to a considerable size.

Sport

Dannevirke has produced a number of sports men and women in a number of different disciplines, among them rugby player John Timu, who made New Zealand teams in both union and league. Ewen Chatfield, who was an important member of the successful New Zealand cricket team of the 1980s Hadlee-Coney-Crowe era, is from Dannevirke, as is former All Black Duncan Hales, who now resides in the United States.
Other Dannevirke All Blacks were Colin Loader, Blair Furlong, Lui Paewai who is widely acknowledged as the youngest All Black in history at just 17 years old and whose brother, nephews and grand-nephews went on to have good careers for Hawkes Bay and the New Zealand Maori side, and Roy White Other All Blacks who spent time in Dannevirke included 1981 All Black tourist to Romania and France Wayne Neville, who attended Dannevirke High School, and John Ashworth, who moved from Canterbury to a farm near Dannevirke late in his career.
The Dannevirke Sports Club and Aotea Sports Club are the major outlets for sport in the town with netball, cricket and soccer teams as well as a rugby team that compete in the Premier Manawatu Senior Competition and the Hawke's Bay 1st Division.

Climate

Dannevirke has an Oceanic climate,. Despite its high altitude the summer temperatures are often cooler compared to other Eastern North Island towns, such as Masterton, Napier and Gisborne, while in winter Dannevirke can regularly experience frosts as in other parts of New Zealand. Snow is rare, the latest snow to hit Dannevirke was 15 August 2011.

Schools

Dannevirke High School is the town's co-educational state primary school, with a roll of as of.
Dannevirke has three co-educational state primary schools: Dannevirke South School, with a roll of, Huia Range School, with a roll of, and Ruahine School, with a roll of.
St Joseph's School is a co-educational state Catholic primary school, with a roll of.
Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Tamaki Nui A Rua is a co-educational Year 1-13 Māori language immersion school, with a roll of.
Totara College of Accelerated Learning is a co-educational state-integrated Year 1-13 school, with a roll of.

Notable residents