Inglewood, New Plymouth: Town Guide to Heritage Streets and Mountain Views

Last updated October 2026

Inglewood is an inland town in the New Plymouth District, set on the Taranaki ring plain where State Highway 3 runs southeast from the city toward Stratford. It is a service centre for surrounding dairy farms, with a compact town centre bent around the meeting of Rata Street and Matai Street. On a clear day Mount Taranaki rises beyond the rooftops and the farmland.

The older name Kōhanga Moa, nest of the moa, still shows in the ward name, the local marae and the railway station built when the settlement was only a few years old.

Shops, schools and sports grounds sit within a short walk of the highway, so the town works both as a stop on the road south and as a place to live within reach of New Plymouth.

Official Suburb Facts

Explore the map

About Inglewood

Inglewood sits inland of the coast, on the lower slopes of the ring plain rather than on the harbour. New Plymouth District Council treats it as one of the district’s second-tier town centres, alongside Waitara and Fitzroy, and the centre is busy because it serves both the residential streets and a wide rural catchment with a dairying focus.

Matai Street is part of State Highway 3, so the same road that brings shoppers also carries through traffic, including heavy vehicles, around an almost right-angle bend in the middle of town.

The land is in the rohe of Te Ātiawa. Kōhanga Moa means nest of the moa, a reference to moa habitat in this part of the district. Council records also tie the name to the Moa Block, or Kohanga Moa, an area of dense forest surveyed in the 1870s.

Te Kōhanga Moa Marae is in the town. It has the meeting house Matamua and is linked with the Te Ātiawa hapū of Pukerangiora. The wider community board area also includes Manukorihi, Otaraua and Pukerangiora hapū.

Pākehā settlement began in the 1870s. The place was founded in 1873 as Moatown, briefly called Milton, then renamed Inglewood in 1875 so it would not be confused with Milton in the South Island. Settlers came from England, East Prussia (now within Poland), Denmark and Switzerland.

The railway station on Moa Street was built in 1876, the same era the line inland from Sentry Hill reached the town, and it is still the oldest railway station in New Zealand remaining on its original site.

Dairy processing shaped the twentieth-century town. The Moa-Nui Co-operative Dairies factory operated here until 1991, when it was the fourth largest dairy factory in New Zealand, before processing was centralised near Hāwera. From 1949 until the factory closed in 1987, Inglewood was also home to Fun Ho!

Toys, a maker of collectible die-cast toys. A museum of those toys remains in the town. Inglewood High School opened in 1957; the primary school traces its start to 1875, and St Patrick’s School, now on its present site since 1926, opened in 1906.

Day to day, the town is a main-street centre rather than a resort. People come for the supermarket run, school, sport at TET Stadium and Events Centre, and the seasonal outdoor pool on the corner of Elliot and Rata Streets.

Visitors passing on State Highway 3 get the mountain view, the war memorial at the Rata Street corner, and a run of older commercial buildings, including listed places such as the Shoe Store Building. It is a working rural town that also functions as a base for people travelling between New Plymouth and the inland highway.

History and Heritage

Heritage New Zealand lists the Inglewood Railway Station and Yard as a Category 1 historic place. Public Works contractors J. Gibb and G. B. Sealey built it in 1876 on land bought for the railway three years earlier.

The station is privately owned, so it is not a public museum you can walk through, but it still stands in the town on Moa Street and is a rare survivor of the line that opened Taranaki’s inland settlements.

The town centre has several Category 2 listings. The war memorial at 1 Matai Street (State Highway 3) and Rata Street is public and able to be visited.

A commercial building on the corner of Kelly Street and Matai Street has been in business use since 1876, the same year as the station, and began as a butcher’s shop run by the Curtis brothers.

The Shoe Store Building, on the corner of Rata and Richmond Streets, and the band rotunda on the corner of Rata and Moa Streets are also Category 2.

Two scenic reserves mark the southern side of town and carry local names. Joe Gibbs Scenic Reserve, about 2.2 hectares on the southern edge, is named for a former Inglewood mayor who held office from 1931 to 1938. Roughly half of it is forest, with grazed land and a smaller area of mown open space.

P. G. Nops Scenic Reserve, about 1.7 hectares at Tawa Street and Matai Street, sits at the southern entrance, with the Kurapete Stream running through it. Parts of that reserve are occupied by houses and are not open public space.

Getting Around

State Highway 3 is the practical way in. From New Plymouth the highway reaches town as Matai Street; south of the centre it continues as the main road toward Stratford and beyond.

Rata Street meets Matai Street in the middle of the shopping area, which is why the centre feels like a corner rather than a long straight main street. A heavy-traffic bypass and the railway add to a layout that council design guidance describes as awkward: two major intersections, the highway, and shops split by the rail corridor.

The railway is a freight and heritage presence, not a confirmed passenger service into town. If you are visiting without a car, check current regional bus timetables before you travel, because a regular public bus stop pattern was not confirmed in council sources used for this guide.

Once you are in the centre, the shops, the memorial, the high school on Rata Street and the pool are all within the town grid rather than out on the mountain road.

Getting Outdoors

Inglewood is not a beach town. Its outdoor character is the ring plain: paddocks, shelter belts, and Mount Taranaki on the skyline when the cloud lifts.

For a short walk inside the town edge, Joe Gibbs Scenic Reserve offers a mix of forest and open ground on the southern side. P. G. Nops Scenic Reserve is the green space most drivers pass at the southern highway entrance, with the Kurapete Stream beside the road corridor.

Sport is the other outdoor focus. TET Stadium and Events Centre, at the old Jubilee Park site, has an all-weather athletics track around the main field, a covered grandstand and changing rooms. It is used by Inglewood United and by local athletics.

The Inglewood pool, on the corner of Elliot and Rata Streets, is an outdoor complex with a six-lane pool and a toddlers’ pool. It is seasonal, entry fees apply, and it closes outside the summer season, so check New Plymouth District Council before you plan a swim.

Where to Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Inglewood part of New Plymouth?
It is a town in the New Plymouth District, not a harbour suburb of the city. New Plymouth District Council is the local council, and the town has its own community board.

How do I get to Inglewood?
Drive State Highway 3 southeast from New Plymouth. The highway becomes Matai Street through the town centre and continues south toward Stratford. Do not rely on a passenger train; none was confirmed.

What does Kōhanga Moa mean?
It means nest of the moa. The name refers to moa habitat in this part of Taranaki, and it is used for the ward, the local primary school and the town marae. Early Pākehā settlers first called the place Moatown.

Can I go inside the railway station?
No. The Inglewood Railway Station is a Category 1 historic place, but Heritage New Zealand records it as private. You can see its place in the town from the street; it is not a staffed visitor centre.

What schools are in Inglewood?
Inglewood High School on Rata Street takes secondary students. Inglewood Primary School, also known as Te Kura o Kōhanga Moa, and St Patrick’s School, a state-integrated Catholic school, serve younger students.

Where is the town centre?
Shops cluster on Rata Street and on Matai Street, which is State Highway 3. The two roads meet at a sharp bend in the middle of town. The railway runs beside part of that centre and separates some buildings from the main frontage.

Is the swimming pool open all year?
No. The pool on the corner of Elliot and Rata Streets is an outdoor seasonal pool, with a six-lane pool and a toddlers’ pool. Entry fees apply in the open season. Check New Plymouth District Council for hours before you visit.

Which iwi is connected with Inglewood?
The area is in the rohe of Te Ātiawa. Te Kōhanga Moa Marae in the town is linked with the hapū of Pukerangiora. The wider Inglewood community board area also includes Manukorihi and Otaraua hapū.

Spotted something incorrect on this page? Let us know.

Explore New Plymouth only lists suburbs officially recognised by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), and Inglewood is one of them. Suburb boundary: LINZ, CC BY 4.0.