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Historic Greytown

White Swan Hotel, Greytown - click for more.
The main street of Greytown is memorable for its carefully restored Victorian buildings
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Greytown was New Zealand's first planned inland town. It was established in 1854 by a group of settlers from Wellington who were looking for small, affordable portions of land to farm. They established Greytown with the assistance of Sir George Grey, the Governor of New Zealand at the time.

Today Greytown has New Zealand's most complete main street of wooden Victorian buildings. The town's historic walk is shown on the map situated outside the bibrary, or you can pick up the Historic Greytown pamphlet from the information centre.

Maori culture is also evident in Greytown. Papawai Marae - the site of the first Maori Parliament - has a wharenui (meeting house) dating back to 1888. In the 1890s, 18 large carved figures were erected representing famous tipuna (ancestors). These have been restored with help from the Historic Places Trust.

Cobblestones, the Wairarapa Early Settlers' Museum, has an interesting collection of historic buildings and early technology. The museum is open every day.

Many artists, artisans and antique dealers live and work in Greytown. A short stroll down the main street will reveal a fascinating range of galleries and shops.
 


 
WAIRARAPA Region


Contact Details

Contact: Masterton i-SITE Visitor Centre
Phone: +64 6 370 0900
Fax: +64 6 378 8451
Postal: PO Box 674 Masterton
Website: www.wairarapanz.com

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Greytown is the closest town to this highlight.

In Greytown:

Other towns near Greytown by road:

Other towns near Greytown by rail:

Greytown does not have any rail stations.

The nearest rail station is in Carterton (8 minutes)

Other towns near Greytown by air:

Greytown does not have scheduled passenger air services.

The nearest airport is in Wellington (67 minutes)

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