Seddonville

Seddonville is a lightly populated locality [Land Information New Zealand, [http://www.linz.govt.nz/apps/placenames/index.html?p=49154 New Zealand Geographic Placenames Database: Place Name Detail - Seddonville] , accessed 23 June 2007.] on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is most famous for the historical role it played in New Zealand's coal mining industry.

Geography

Seddonville is situated in the isolated north of the West Coast in the foothills of the Glasgow Range. It is on the southern bank of the Mokihinui River. To the west of Seddonville are Summerlea and Mokihinui on the coast of the Tasman Sea, and to the north is Corbyvale on the road to Karamea. State Highway 67 ends just before reaching Seddonville.

A rare mollusc, the Powelliphanta lignaria rotella, is found only in the Seddonville area. It is considered nationally endangered. [Department of Conservation, [http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/MultipageDocumentPage.aspx?id=39593 New Zealand Threat Classification System lists – 2002 - Terrestrial invertebrate - part one] , accessed 23 June 2007.]

History

Seddonville was named for former Prime Minister of New Zealand Richard Seddon. It was established in the late 19th century as a mining community after the discovery of significant coal reserves in the area. On 23 February 1895, the last section of the Seddonville Branch railway from Westport was opened from Mokihinui to Seddonville and included an extension beyond the town to the Mokihinui Coal Company's mine. Passengers were catered for by mixed trains that always carried freight; after 12 June 1933, these trains ceased to carry passengers past Seddonville, and on 14 October 1946, they were cancelled entirely. Coal was the predominant traffic on the line, especially after the late 1930s when increasingly developed roads allowed most other freight to be carried by road transport. In 1974, the Mokihinui Coal Company's mine closed, as did the railway line beyond Seddonville. Coal from other mines provided some freight for the rest of the decade, but mining production was in decline, demand had dropped, and by 1980, the line's maintenance was well in excess of its revenue. Accordingly, the railway closed beyond Ngakawau on 3 May 1981. [David Leitch and Brian Scott, "Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways", rev. ed. (Wellington: Grantham House, 1998), 52-3.]

Modern age

Seddonville is now a small rural village. It provides access to the Mokihinui back country and fishing, tramping, and whitewater rafting attract visitors. [Tourism West Coast, [http://www.west-coast.co.nz/Tourism_West_Coast/Mohikinui_Seddonville__IDL=6_IDT=1452_ID=10453_.html "Mokihinui / Seddonville"] , accessed 23 June 2007.] The gates to the Seddonville Domain form a small war memorial, commemorating eighteen war victims from Seddonville: thirteen in World War I, five in World War II. [Simon Nathan, [http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/node/4222 "Seddonville War Memorial"] , accessed 23 June 2007.]

Part of the route of the former Seddonville Branch is preserved as the Chasm Creek Walkway. Located on the route's approach to Seddonville, it follows the formation of the line, passes through an old railway tunnel, and two railway bridges are converted for use by bushwalkers. The platform of the former Seddonville railway station is still extant in the village itself. [Leitch and Scott, "Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways", 53-4.]

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