Surrey Hill Road is nestled between the Kaitake Ranges and the Ōākura River. While there is no recorded history of when or who named the road, the inspiration is likely to have been Surrey Hills, near London. The Ōākura hinterland must have reminded early settlers, or perhaps even British soldiers, of the heavily forested, gentle rolling countryside of Surrey.
The road has a long history dating back to the 1860s and the Second Taranaki War, a conflict which began south of New Plymouth in 1863. Surrey Hill Road was likely formed around this time to provide access to Kaitake pā and later a British redoubt on the lower slopes of the ranges.
In 1867 a 50 acre block was advertised for sale on the ‘Surrey Road’ and later that year £70.00 was allocated by the local road board for improvements on ‘Surrey Hill Road’.
The state of the road was to be an on-going issue. In March 1958, “All Shook Up”, wrote to the Taranaki Daily News complaining that the road was in a deplorable condition restricting access to the historic Te Koru pā at the end of the road. “I would advise any well-meaning tourist to obtain the loan of an old car and a crash helmet, and to have strong arms, as the corrugations could throw the most experienced driver off the road”.
The original 50 acre blocks have now been mostly broken-up into smaller parcels of land and the road is in a better state these days. Hopefully this means locals and tourists are not put off a visit to the magnificent Te Koru pā.
This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.
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