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Ellerslie is a suburb of the city of Auckland City, New Zealand. It is seven kilometres to the southeast of the city centre, close to State Highway 1. A largely residential suburb, the area's best known feature is Auckland's main horse racing course, Ellerslie Racecourse, as well as for being the original site of the Ellerslie Flower Show.

Ellerslie is under the local governance of the Auckland City Council. In the 2001 census Ellerslie had a population of 7,263.

History

Overview

The suburb was named by early local politician and entrepreneur Robert Graham, after his father's home in Elderslie (sic) in Lancashire, England. Adjacent to his home, 'Ellerslie House', was a track along which Mrs Graham was in the habit of riding her horse every morning, now a street called Ladies Mile. Many of the flocal streets bear names of Graham family members.^[1]

In 1873 construction of the railway from Auckland reached the area. Possibly this was what induced Graham to develop part of his property as the 'Ellerslie Zoological Gardens', a pleasure garden with flower beds, fountains, bandstand and dance pavilion and a zoo.^[1] Although it was popular to a certain degree it failed to prosper. In 1886 much of the Graham farm was subdivided for housing but the landscaped grounds became the setting for the Racing Club (though racing had already started in the area in 1857, and remains located here to this day). The racecourse had its own railway station for racedays, and strongly characterised the local area up until its heyday in the 1920s and 1930s.^[1]

Next to Ellerslie Train Station developed a small township servicing not only the local residents but also the raceday crowds. As the 20th century progressed the surrounding rural land disappeared and the small town of Ellerslie became absorbed into the suburbs of Auckland. The building of the Southern Motorway was to both strengthen the strategic location already created by the railway as well as damage the local cohesion of the area.^[1]

The original Ellerslie Town District was established in 1908. The Borough of Ellerslie was formally declared on 1 April 1938. In 1989 Ellerslie was amalgamated into Auckland City. The area has seen strong population growth in the recent past, growing 32% in the inner Ellerslie area between 1991 and 2001.^[1]

Ellerslie is now seen as a desirable suburb to live in. Its location provides convenient access to the city centre for commuters (via rail and bus links) and ready access to the nearby Southern Motorway for road users. The town centre is pleasant with good services while maintaining a sense of community. Housing in the area is well planned and close to a number of attractive parks, such as Michael's Avenue Reserve.

A view down the town centre's main road.

Town Centre

The Ellerslie Town Centre is on Main Highway near where it intersects with the Great South Road. The construction in the 1960s of the Southern Motorway meant that Ellerslie was less easily accessible from nearby Greenlane, resulting in a downturn in trade and many empty shops, with the area featuring as a backdrop of urban blight in the famous movie Once Were Warriors.^[2] However, in the 2000s, a strong upturn in employment in the nearby business parks on the southern side of the motorway (connected to the area with a pedestrian overbridge), as well as a long-term strategy by a local business association, helped revive the area - which is now increasingly becoming oriented to lunchtime crowds and again has many prosperous smaller businesses.^[2]

Demographics

Based on the 2001 Census, and relative to Auckland on the whole, the Ellerslie area had a number of characteristics:^[1]

• Higher than average rate of residents with a bachelor or higher degree (21.8 per cent of residents aged over 15 compared to 19.5 per cent across Auckland as a whole)
• Lower level of public transport use (0.86 per cent of people used the train compared to 0.33 per cent across the city, while 4.57 per cent of people used the bus compared to 7.66 per cent of people across the city)
• Higher than usual rate of people driving private or company vehicles to work (68 per cent compared to 58 per cent)
• More people identifying themselves as having a European background, (88 per cent compared to 62 per cent for the city), with 18% of Asian background, the same proportion across Auckland as a whole
• More couples without children, (46 per cent of families without children compared to 38 per cent across the whole city)
• Smaller than average household size (the average household size of 2.2 persons, compared to a 2.7 Auckland average)

Notable buildings

• Christ Church 1883, a wooden gothic building in Ladies Mile. Its most significant feature is a full set of windows gifted to the congregation by the English firm of Clayton and Bell..

• Former Ellerslie Post Office 1909 John Campbell architect. Decommissioned in the 1980s.

• Former Southern Cross Picture Theatre 1925, converted into squash courts in the 1970s.

• Former Municipal Offices 1926, (corner of Ramsgate St and Main Highway).

• Aborfield (corner of Ramsgate St and Main Highway). A two-storey wooden Italianate house, the residence of Lieut. Col Charles Dawson (18th Royal Irish Regiment), Chairman of the Mount Wellington Road Board and Master of the Pakuranga Hunt.

Education

The main local State secondary schools are Auckland Grammar School, Epsom Girls Grammar School, One Tree Hill College, St Peter's College, Selwyn College and Baradene College of the Sacred Heart. However, none of these schools are located within Ellerslie itself.

See also

• Ellerslie Racecourse
• Ellerslie Flower Show

References

• Ellerslie Town Heritage Walk, Ellerslie Business Association Mainstreet Programme 2005

External links

• Ellerslie Online (business association website)

Coordinates: 36°53′51″S 174°48′31″E / 36.897581°S 174.808493°E / -36.897581; 174.808493