According to Māori culture the large totara trees located in the forest are the tamariki of Tarahaoa and Huatekerekere whom themselves turned into Mount Peel and Little Mount Peel upon their deaths. They were both part of Ārai Te Uru's ill-fated trading trip along the Canterbury coast. The first European to visit the region was Charles Torlesse in 1849 in the search for coal. Torlesse named the area "Gurdon Forrest" this was later renamed in the memory of Sir Robert Peel by Francis Jollie. The community took off in the 1850s with the rise of the timber industry. Kahikatea, matai and totara were all milled in the region and the remains of the sawpits can still be found at Clarke Flat today. Saw milling continued in the region till after the 1900s. A horrified Arthur Mills who was visiting in 1881, was so taken back by the devastation that he personally purchased 16 hectares of untouched forest. This would go on to form the beginnings of the Peel Forest Park. The other source of commerce in the early days was farming. Early runs were set up John B A Acland, Charles G Tripp and Francis Jollie. Acland and Tripp, who in the late 1850s with all of the land on the plains taken, decided to chance their luck further up the foothills. At its largest the partnership held nearly 300,00 acres of land including Mount Peel, Mount Somers, Mount Possession, Orari Gorge and parts of Mesopotamia and Hakatere.
Education
Early schools in the region were set up in nearby Scotsburn with the school being moved to Peel Forest in 1923. The school was closed in 1998 and students transferred to Carew Peel Forest School. The school buildings are currently used as a Montessori pre-school.
Located on the main street the first church was built in 1868. A whirlwind destroyed the original in 1884 with the current church being built in 1885. The church is well known for its wooden interior and unique New Zealand twist to its traditional stained glass windows.
Notable people
John B A Acland, politician and early run holder.
Austen Deans, noted New Zealand based artist who, with his wife and seven sons, lived and worked in Peel Forest. Deans is known for his traditional landscape paintings depicting the Canterbury high country
Captain George Hamilton Dennistoun, DSO, OBE. Born in Peel Forest. Held various command positions throughout World War I and II.
