Related keywords
Settlement just east of the coast road between Waitati and Waikouaiti. The former Seacliff mental hospital, which opened in 1884, was at the junction with the coast road. The hospital had over 500 inmates at its peak; the main building closed in 1958. The site is now Truby King reserve, named after Seacliff’s first superintendent. A scandal over the construction of the building – which was built on unstable ground – ruined the career of architect Robert Lawson. A replacement hospital, Cherry Farm, opened in 1954 on State Highway 1 just south of Waikouaiti. It closed in 1992.
Meaning of place name
George Bacon, the earliest resident in the Beaconsfield Riding, chose the name at the request of the government in 1875 (when a railway station was to be built) because of the cliffs along the coast.
