Walk Details
NZ Walking Routes > Taranaki > Hawera - King Edward Park
Hawera - King Edward Park
- Location
- This park is located corner of Waihi Road and High Street and contains a number of walkways within.
- Description
Kind Edward Park has its beginnings in 1875 when the Hawera Town Board set aside a section comprising of 28 acres as a recreational reserve. From there the park has become a very attractive and well-kept facility in the district.
It is home to a number of interesting historical items. The large wrought iron entrance gates on the corner of Camberwell Road and High Street commemorate the Industrial Exhibition of 1904 and the smaller side gate was erected in memory of those troops from the Hawera District who died in South Africa during the Boer War.
Inside the gates a marble statue of Arthur Albert Fantham a former manager of the Egmont Farmer’s Union, an auctioneer and chairman of the Hawera Road Board at various times.
The cannon standing further into the park was sent to Hawera in 1885 for the Hawera Volunteer Rifle Company to train on. It was used in a training day that year but then lay neglected for many years. Finally after several temporary homes it was placed in the park in 1912.
The wife of a late Mayor of Hawera donated the Wendy statue near the playground. The Royal College of Sculpture in London organised a competition for the design of a suitable statue. The Wendy statue is the companion piece to the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens, London. It was unveiled on 16 July 1951.
King Edward Park contains a number of special features including a scented garden for the blind, a rhododendron dell, a willow pattern Chinese garden and a spectacular rose garden which is nationally renowned for some of its rarer species. Also King Edward Park has a spectacular Children’s Play ground with a pirate ship for the children to enjoy.
A comfortable 20 minute bush and riverside walk (Three Bridges Trail) beside the Patea River can also be injoyed.
- Level
- Easy
- Amenities
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- Historical
- Playground
- Source
- www.trc.govt.nz
- Discussion
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