Warmford Regis, Centralia
| Warmford Regis | |
|---|---|
 The Crown and Shears Pub, Warmford Regis | |
| General information | |
| Established | 1842 |
| Postal code | CENT |
| Dialling code | 01 |
| Geography | |
| County | Centralia |
| Municipality | Stanhill Rural District |
| Parish | Warmford Regis |
| Elevation | 3,248 ft (990 m) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 588 (Ranked 230th) |
| Property value | £19,318 |
| Politics | |
| Warmford Regis Parish Council | |
 Coat of Arms of Warmford Regis, Centralia | |
| Type | Open vestry |
| Incorporated | 1 October 1984 |
| Seat |
Warmford Regis Hall 10 High Street Warmford Regis, CENT |
| Navigation and map | |
|
List of settlements in New Ingrea List of places in New Ingrea by population Municipalities · Parishes | |
Warmford Regis is a village and parish in the north of the county of Centralia. As of 2010, the parish has a population of 588, some 306 of whom live in the village.
Toponymy
The toponymy of the village is drawn from a nearby ford over the River Chandler. To the native Ngati Mōri, the crossing was known as Inawhiti, which more or less translates to English a warm crossing. According to most sources the so-called warm crossing is caused by a combination of volcanism heating the rocks below the river and a warm micro-climate that heats a small area of the Chandler Gorge to temperatures above the average for the area. Because of the absence of the native inhabitants from the area at the time of European settlement in the 1840s, the fact that the names are nearly identical appears to be by serendipity.
The suffix of Regis, a Latin term or towns with Royal favour[1], was added in 1936 in commemoration of the village's royal connexion through the nearby Royal Estate.
History
Geography
Warmford Regis is situated in the north of Centralia, and is some 32 1⁄5 miles (51.8 km) from Kingsbury, and 18 3⁄4 miles (30.2 km) from Stanhill. The village itself lies adjacent to Warmford Brook, having been established in that location to take advantage of the abundant supplies of fresh water available from the stream. The parish lies almost entirely between the major rivers of the Oaky River and the Panton River, with the village situated on high ground on the main ridge between the two.
Geologically, the parish falls entirely within the Central Tablelands, a series of plateaux which are thought to have been created by the volcanic interaction of the Haumatā Plateau large igneous province with Aorangean plate boundary. Geologists have dated the first instance of the collision back to as far as the late Cretaceous Period[2], creating a landmass much larger and higher than seamount chains typically achieve. As a result, the parish is almost entirely over 3,000 feet (910 m) in elevation, creating a unique ecological biozone, with temperate forests filled with a diverse range of flora and fauna.
Climate
The temperature and precipitation measured in the parish is entirely consistent with that of a maritime temperate climate. On the Köppen climate classification system, Warmford Regis is ranked as a having a Cfb climate.
The average rainfall for the parish is recorded as being 55 3⁄4 inches (1,420 mm) per year.
Land use and ownership
Warmford Regis covers an area of 46,796 acres (18,938 ha; 73.119 sq mi). Under the provisions of the Lands (Church and Glebe Properties Vesting) Ordinance[3], approximately 7% or 3,405 acres (1,378 ha; 5.320 sq mi) of the parish is owned by the Church of New Ingrea, or to be more accurate, the local parish vestry. This land is leased to tenant farmers and the revenues from it are used to pay for the upkeep of the rectory, and a number of other functions (both civil and ecclesiastical) exercised by the vestry. The land is held under an ancient feudal form of land tenure known as frankalmoigne[4].
The parish of Warmford Regis is one of a number of notable examples of New Ingrean manorialism that can still be found across the country. The major landowner of the parish is Crown Estate, who As of 2024[update] is in possession of some 18,948 acres (7,668 ha; 29.606 sq mi) or about 41% of the parish. The Crown Estate's holdings are together the largest property in the parish, and form the Royal Estate. The land was originally granted to Alexander Crowther when the parish was settled in 1842, before passing to his son Frederick in the same year. Upon the Frederick's death in 1871, the property passed back to the Crown, and was used by successive Resident Commissioners as a weekend retreat. Since 1907, the estate has been used by the Governor-General for the same purpose. The rest of the parish is divided between the Crown (i.e.the government); and also a number of small freehold landowners (yeoman), who have purchased allotments either at the time the parish was created or from the subsequent subdivision and sale of land from the major landowners of the parish.
Other settlements
Within the parish can be found a further three settlements, all of which have a population of less than 100 people, and are therefore classified as hamlets.
- Inglenook (population 27)
- Mount Pleasant (population 33)
- Wakefield (population 30)
Demographics
According to the Statistics Agency, there:
- were 588 people on the night of the last census (2 August 2010), making Warmford Regis the 230th largest settlement in New Ingrea;
- the population of the village was equal to less than 0.02% of the national population of 3,473,671.
Economy
Along with Station Creek in Fitzroyshire, Warmford Regis is the only village in New Ingrea where the chief employer is the Crown Estate. The Estate employs some 75 people on the Royal Estate in a variety of roles including housekeepers, footmen, gardeners, stockmen, and a number of specialist staff that service the estate and the residences within. The station has hosted vice-regal representatives since the 1870s, and is used as the weekend retreat for the vice-regal family, as well as a location for special events in the vice-regal calendar, such as the Easter church services and the Royal National Exhibition Dinner held each March.
The historical economic base for the village has been the rural and forestry sectors, with some 45 people still employed in these industries. The chief agricultural earners has always been sheep and beef cattle, with the Royal Estate having been famous for at least a century in the breeding of the fine Signature Royale brand of beef cattle. Nearby to Warmford Regis is the Panton River National Forest, a native timber forest of some 75,033 acres (30,365 hectares; 117.239 square miles) that stretches from the village of Serpentine in the north, to Hall's Peak in the south. Both hardwood and softwood timber from the forest has been harvested for at least 150 years, and is exported to both domestic and international markets. The principal economic hub for those who work the forest is the nearby village of Pantonthwaite, but there are a handful of people from Warmford Regis who also derive their living from the forest.
The smallest employer in the village is the tertiary sector of the economy, which services the village and nearby rural surrounds. Within the village itself there is a church (St Benedict's), a public house (the Crown and Shears), a post office, a general store, a mechanic, a county police station, and a primary school. All in all, these businesses and services employ some 30-35 people as of June 2012.
Governance
The Warmford Regis Parish Council is an open vestry, with the present council having been formed in 1984. The parish itself dates back to 1842, when the area was first subdivided for close settlement. A vestry existed in Warmford after the construction of the church in 1862. However, after the formation of the municipalities in 1907, parishes temporarily lost the right to make by-laws for civil matters, with the vestry concerning itself solely with ecclesiastical matters.
The parish is responsible for overseeing a diverse range of matters, including allotment gardens, care and maintenance of all Ingrean churches and their contents, management of all church tithes and income, civic heraldry, care of historic monuments, input on local planning applications, encouragement of local tourism, maintenance of rights of way for hikers and horse riders, control of litter, neighbourhood watch programmes, appointment of parish clergy, promotion in the parish the whole mission of the Church, public conveniences, recreation grounds and parks, street and footpath maintenance, traffic management, management of village halls, and the cleaning and drainage of village ponds and lakes.
From 1907, the village formed part of the Chandler Rural District, which encompassed much of the north of Centralia. Prior to 1907, the parish lay within the unincorporated area of the country, with municipal corporations limited by statute to those cities and towns with a population of at least 1,000 free settlers[5]. In 1947, the government undertook a significant reform of municipal governance[6], and Chandler RDC was merged in to the Stanhill Rural District. Municipalities today manage matters such as alcohol licensing, building ordinances, cemeteries, garbage collection, local planning, local streets and roads, pre-schools, libraries, public parks and gardens, and surf lifesaving.
The village is located in the county of Centralia, and therefore has elected members to the county council since 1886. As of 2013, the parish lies within the 2nd electoral ward, and is represented by three county councillors. The counties are responsible for larger scale matters, such as biosecurity, civil defence, environmental management, garbage disposal, police, public transport, strategic planning, water supply, and welfare payments.
In the Parliament of New Ingrea, Warmford Regis forms part of the Electoral district of Stanhill, presently held by Juliet Blake of the Democratic Party. Whilst the parish itself is relatively conservative in disposition and outlook[7], it has always lain within a constituency that typically returns either liberal or socialist members to the House of Assembly.
Transport
Warmford Regis is located just off the B80, which runs from the nearby town of Chandler north to the town of Port Waiparu on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The village is also marks one end of the C678, which runs north-west from Warmford Regis to the village of Allingham some 23 1⁄3 miles (37.6 km) away.
Landmarks
- Royal Estate, Warmford Regis, weekend resident of the Governor-General of New Ingrea
Notable residents
References and notes
- ↑ Field, John (2005). Discovering Place-Names: Their Origins and Meanings - A Pocket Guide to Over 1500 Place-Names in Ingrea, Ireland, Scotland and Wales (4th ed.). Oxford: Osprey Publishing. p. 34. ISBN 9780747806172.
- ↑ Condie, Kent C. (2001). Mantle Plumes and Their Record in Earth History. Cambridge University Press. p. 19. ISBN 0-521-01472-7.
- ↑ Lands (Church and Glebe Properties Vesting) Ordinance (Ordinance No. 19 of 1838).
- ↑ Garner, Bryan (2011). Garner's Dictionary of Legal Usage (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 378. ISBN 9780195384208.
- ↑ Municipal Boroughs Ordinance (Ordinance No. 11 of 1844).
- ↑ Local Government Act (Public Act No. 62 of 1947).
- ↑ The Warmford Regis electoral booth will typically favour the National Party by a margin of anywhere between 10-15%.
Other links
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Taumata 9.59 miles (15.43 km) |
Serpentine 15.54 miles (25.01 km) |
Pantonthwaite 4.9 miles (7.9 km) |
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| Pondsford 4.7 miles (7.6 km) |
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Halls Peak 12.44 miles (20.02 km) | ||
 Warmford Regis 
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| Chandler 6.02 miles (9.69 km) |
Hargrave 9.58 miles (15.42 km) |
Long Point 11.48 miles (18.48 km) |