Feel the sea breeze on your face. Smell the salt air. This is Narrow Neck.
Narrow Neck a suburb on Auckland’s North Shore has a fascinating past. Long ago before European settlers arrived the area was connected to the rest of the North Shore. A causeway linked Ngataringa Bay and the Hauraki Gulf. This created a narrow strip of land the namesake of Narrow Neck. One side held a beach. The other boasted a vast mangrove swamp.
William Cobley a pioneer settler established Vauxhall Gardens in the 1870s. He named them after the famous London gardens. He even brought some gardeners from London to work there. This area Vauxhall is part of southeastern Narrow Neck.
Later much of the mangrove swamp was drained and filled. This created land for The Takapuna Jockey Club’s racecourse. It remained a racecourse until the 1930s. Then it transformed into the Waitamata golf club.
Fort Takapuna stands proudly in Narrow Neck. From 1927 until the mid-1930s it housed a Royal New Zealand Navy ammunition storage facility. The munitions were later moved to Kauri Point. During the World Wars the area served as a military training camp. A new road was built cutting through the reclaimed land. It improved access between Devonport and Takapuna.
Today Narrow Neck is a vibrant community. It thrives with a population of approximately 4360 people. It offers beautiful homes many lovingly restored villas built in the late 19th century. They showcase the charm of this unique Auckland suburb. Narrow Neck truly is a place of history beauty and community spirit. It offers a glimpse into Auckland’s rich past. It reveals the layers of history that shaped this special place.