Coalgate, New Zealand

Coalgate is a small town in the Selwyn District of the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island.[1] The 2001 New Zealand census gave Coalgate's population as 276, and it is located roughly an hour west of Christchurch on State Highway 77. The town's name stems from it being the "gateway" to the lignite coal fields around Whitecliffs, the Rakaia Gorge, and Acheron River. Coal mining declined in the 20th century and has now ceased, but since the 1950s, commercial processing of nontronite has taken place in Coalgate.[2]

Coalgate
Village
Bridge Street, November 2011
Coalgate
Coordinates:
CountryNew Zealand
RegionCanterbury
Territorial authoritySelwyn District
Population
 (2018)
 • Total1,191
Time zoneUTC+12 (New Zealand Standard Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+13 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Area code(s)03

Services

Notable features are the Coalgate Tavern and the Coalgate Cabins, both situated on the main road to Hororata. Coalgate also has a walkway through the old Coalgate Domain. In addition to these there is also a Coalgate bowling green. A garage is also located in Coalgate.

The town has access to the Selwyn River and is situated to the east of Glentunnel.

Coalgate Tavern, November 2011

Transport

On 3 November 1875, the Whitecliffs Branch railway was opened, with a station in Coalgate. It was here that a private line diverged from the state-operated New Zealand Railways Department network. On 31 March 1962, the railway closed, but some of the line's old formation and the Coalgate station platform can still be found.[3]

Coalgate is serviced by State Highway 77/Inland Scenic Route 72.

References
  1. "Place name detail: Coalgate". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 2 April 2008.
  2. Selwyn District Council, "Glentunnel and Coalgate", accessed 19 May 2008.
  3. David Leitch and Brian Scott, Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways, revised edition (Wellington: Grantham House, 1998 [1995]), 71-2.
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