New Zealand · Canterbury · Christchurch
Hoon Hay, Christchurch — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Hoon Hay is an outer Christchurch suburb in New Zealand, at the base of the Port Hills, some 5 kilometres southwest of Cathedral Square.
About Hoon Hay
Where to stay in Hoon Hay
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Hoon Hay sits at the foot of the Port Hills. Rooms here are domestic rather than commercial, and anyone booking should weigh the closeness of the Port Hills against the 5 kilometres of suburb between this ground and Cathedral Square. Hotel rooms are the rare find here.
The Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River passes nearby, and the Cracroft House Servants Quarters (Former) is the one building the register names inside Hoon Hay.
About Hoon Hay
What are the main landmarks in Hoon Hay?
One heritage structure survives. The Cracroft House Servants Quarters (Former) is the single building the register attaches to Hoon Hay, standing on the ground beneath the Port Hills rather than in any village core. Fire took the rest.
Stumps of the tōtara that once grew here surfaced during flood mitigation work on the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River, which is as close to a monument as this outer corner of Christchurch comes.
What is the history of Hoon Hay?
Captain Wickham Talbot Harvey named the place. An officer of the British Royal 10th Hussars, he moved here in 1852 and borrowed the name of Hoon in Derbyshire, where the farm he grew up on stood. He lasted four years.
Fire destroyed his property and sent him back to the United Kingdom, and further fires burned off the woodland, several large tōtara among it, leaving farmland where forest had been. Stumps of that forest still turn up along the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River.
Where is Hoon Hay?
Hoon Hay lies at the base of the Port Hills, about 5 kilometres southwest of Cathedral Square and near the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River.
More areas in Christchurch
Updated September 2026