Aro Valley

Polhill Reserve on the western end of Aro Street, which is meant to have been named for an early Cornish (Cornwall in the UK) surveyor. In the mid-1840s a garrison of British troops was stationed on the upper ridges of this Gully, to protect the southern flank of the settlement from hostile Maori. The force grew to some 200 officers and men by 1845/6. By 1870 British troops had left the country, to encourage colonial 'self reliance'. In the early 1900s the gully, sometimes referred to as Polhill's Gully contained a man made reservoir.

By the 1960s Victoria University was considering Polhill Gully and Holloway Road as potential sites for its own expansion and began buying houses but by the 1970s the plans were being actively challenged by a new generation of Mitchelltown residents who felt the houses and the neighbourhood were worth saving, and by others who envisaged the restoration of Polhill Gully for wildlife habitat and recreational use. Discussion, disagreement and protest went on for years, and the university finally abandoned its plans in the early 1980s. Polhill Gully became a City Council Recreation Reserve in 1989.

Today the reserve is an attractive amenity used by more than a thousand cyclists, runners and walkers a week. It is also frequented by birds, including—thanks to the proximity of the Zealandia wildlife sanctuary—many tui and kaka, and the occasional bellbird, grey warbler, North Island robin and saddleback.

Early tribal occupants of the Aro Valley included Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Ruanui, Muaūpoko and Ngāti Mamoe. In the 1830s Taranaki iwi Te Āti Awa settled at its western end. The stream itself was an important food source for Māori. It was called Waimapihi – in Maori, "the stream or bathing place" of Mapihi, a local chieftainess of Muaūpoko and Ngāti Mamoe descent.[7] These small communities adapted as best they could to the influx of British settlers that began in 1840, but they took a blow in 1855 when an earthquake raised the low-lying land draining the marshes and cutting off their main source of both food and flax for trading. This misfortune, combined with widespread illness, migration back to Taranaki to settle land disputes, and pressure from settlers for land, gradually saw the Māori population of Te Aro dwindle.

205 & 207 Aro Street. Built by George Baker, circa 1897. Historic Place Category 2

The land was part of the New Zealand Company purchase in 1839. It was first developed by settler Wellingtonians as a working-class residential suburb in around 1860,[2] the Aro Valley featured small, narrow sections with closely built wooden or corrugated-iron houses.

In the 1840 Plan of Wellington, the Aro Valley consisted of Wordsworth, Aro and Epuni Streets, as well as St John Street, which connected Aro Street and what became known as The Terrace. Of the 13 freehold acres available for European settlers, nine were in Epuni Street. European settlement grew as Maori left the area, including Te Āti Awa who returned to Taranaki in the 1850–60s. Also, in 1855, the opening of the Old Bullock Track meant the valley became an access route for Karori settlers. The only other route to Karori followed what is now Glenmore Street from Thorndon.

Devon Street in the north of Aro Valleys principal developer, William Adams and Elizabeth Adams, came from the Southern UK county of Devon. He purchased land here in 1885 and some of the houses built were occupied by his son and daughter in law Maxwell and Lila Adams.

The opening of the William Booth Memorial Training College in 1914 (now Philosophy House).

A route of the Wellington tramway system was opened in 1904, connecting Aro Street to the Wellington railway station via the city center; it closed in 1957.[2]

In the 1960s, The Evening Post described Holloway Road (a street originally known as Mitchelltown on the western edge of Aro Valley) as "sagging stairways with most of the tread rotted away", leading to "sagging, open doors and damp, musty rooms where glass from broken windows crunches underfoot".[8]

Matauranga School was a progressive primary school set up by Marie Bell and parents of Aro Valley in 1963[9] and was a pioneer for the 'free-play' method of pre-schooling within New Zealand. In 1967 it became a full primary school.[10] The school closed in 1982 after Marie Bell and another teacher left the school.[10]

Gentrification has been ongoing in Aro Valley from the 1970s, boosted by urban-renewal planning (the Comprehensive Urban Renewal Area or CURA) after the rejection of a proposal to turn the valley into a main arterial road route: it became a desirable suburb, seen as close to the centre of Wellington and boasting notable community spirit. The Aro Valley Community Council was established in 1978 and was followed by the building of the Aro Valley Community Center.[2]

In 1974, the Aro Street public toilets were the scene of a Russian spy drama,[8] when economist, historian and writer Bill Sutch was caught and charged with attempting to pass classified information to the Soviet Union. (Sutch was later acquitted.)[11]

The area's heritage value derives from the fact it contains the largest collection of unaltered working-class homes in Wellington, some built by local tradesmen for employees, many put up by professional builders and developers as speculative investments. Many of the buildings used as shops along Aro Street and a number of houses on Aro Street and Holloway Road are protected by designation on Wellington City Council Heritage List.[12]

Aro Valley is within the enrollment zones for Wellington College, Wellington Girls' College, Wellington High School, Wellington East Girls' College, St Oran's College and Te Aro School.[18]

Te Aro School, located at 360 The Terrace, is a multicultural, not integrated state primary school. In 2014 it had a roll of 216.[19] It has a decile rating of 10Z for 2015.[20] The school was established in 1854 and caters for all children from Year 0–8.[21] The current Principal is Sue Clement.[22]

Aro Valley Pre-School is a licensed early childhood education centre in a purpose-built building situated next to the Aro Valley Community Centre and Aro Park. The pre-school caters to children aged three and four years old, with some younger children attending accompanied by their parents. Once a week they also facilitate a parent-led playgroup for children under three.[23]

The School of Practical Philosophy on Aro Street

• Aro Valley Community Centre (complex with public hall and pre-school; former site of Holy Family School) and the surrounding Aro park is the site of the Annual Aro Valley Fair, Arolympics and other events through the year.
• Wesleyan Methodist Hall built in 1903 (restored in 2019) at western end of Aro Street has had many community uses and is now flats.
• William Booth Memorial Training College (formerly a Salvation Army officer-training establishment, now the School of Practical Philosophy)
• Mickey Mouse Motors (as featured in the film Goodbye Pork Pie, ceased trading since 2003, and is now the micro brewery Garage Project)
• Aro Valley War Memorial (at beginning of Holloway Road and the western end of Aro Street)[24][25]