Tor Street sign (2020). Mike Gooch. Word on the street image collection.
Tor Street sign (2020). Mike Gooch. Word on the street image collection.
Tor Street in Westown was formed in the mid-1940s as part of a large government state housing project, known at the time as the “J.H. Quilliam Housing Block”. The L-shaped block, with frontages to Tukapa and Clawton Streets, was purchased from former New Plymouth solicitor James Henry Quilliam.
At a meeting on 14 February 1944, the New Plymouth Borough Council agreed to name the streets: Wrantage, Tor, Chard and Holford. All the names were taken from the English county of Somerset, the birthplace of James Bellringer, Mayor of New Plymouth from 1889 to 1893.
Wrantage Street formed the spine of the subdivision with the other three branching off from it. The Town Clerk explained in a letter the following day to the Director of Housing Construction that “For the short streets it has been necessary to choose short names owing to the difficulty of printing long names in the town plan when prepared”.
Tor Street was the shortest of these short names and is named after the Glastonbury Tor, a conical hill topped by the 15th century tower of St Michael’s Church. The terraced hill is steeped in history and legend, long regarded as one of Britain’s most sacred landscapes.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the Tor was of significance long before Christianity arrived, with human activity dating back to Neolithic times. More recently the site has become a magnet for people from diverse traditions including Pagan, Druidic and New Age. The long ascent to the tower is seen by some as a symbolic journey of reflection and renewal.
Mythologically, the Tor is known for its association with the legendary Isle of Avalon, where King Arthur is said to have been taken after his final battle. It has also been linked to stories of Joseph of Arimathea, who according to medieval tradition brought the Holy Grail to Britain and helped establish Christianity in Glastonbury.
The word Tor derives from the Old English word torr, meaning a steep hill or rocky outcrop. New Plymouth’s Tor Street is slightly elevated from the rest of the subdivision and it is possible this is why the name was chosen – or perhaps it was just a happy coincidence.
This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.
Related items:
Taranaki DP7037 Sheet 1 (1948), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)
Taranaki DP9233 Sheet 1 (1963), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)
Plans Approved for Cutting up of Land for State Housing (Taranaki Daily News 19 August 1943)
New Plymouth Streets Named by the Council (Taranaki Daily News 15 February 1944)
32 State Houses being Built at New Plymouth (Taranaki Daily News 29 May 1945)
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