Coalgate is a locality in the Selwyn District

Selwyn District

The Selwyn District is a predominantly rural area in central Canterbury, on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is named after the Selwyn River, which is in turn named after Bishop George Selwyn, the first Anglican bishop of New Zealand who, in 1843 and 1844, travelled the length of...

 of the Canterbury

Canterbury, New Zealand

The New Zealand region of Canterbury is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains. Its main city, Christchurch, hosts the main office of the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Regional Council - called Environment Canterbury - and the University of Canterbury.-...

 region of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

's South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

. The 2001 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings

New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings

The New Zealand government department Statistics New Zealand conducts a census of population and dwellings every five years. The census scheduled for 2011 was cancelled due to circumstances surrounding the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, however, and legislation introduced to hold the next...

 gave Coalgate's population as 276, and it is located roughly an hour west of Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

 on State Highway 77

New Zealand State Highway network

The New Zealand State Highway network is the major national highway network in New Zealand. Just under 100 roads in both the North and South Islands are State Highways...

. The town's name stems from it being the "gateway" to the lignite

Lignite

Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat...

 coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

 fields around Whitecliffs

Whitecliffs

Whitecliffs is a small town with a population of 117 in the Selwyn District of the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It has also been known as South Malvern , and the name of Whitecliffs comes from terrace cliffs above the Selwyn River...

, the Rakaia Gorge

Rakaia Gorge

The Rakaia Gorge is located on the Rakaia River in inland Canterbury in New Zealand's South Island.Like its neighbour, the Waimakariri River, the Rakaia runs through wide shingle beds for much of its length, but is forced through a narrow canyon as it approaches the Canterbury Plains.In the 1870s,...

, and Acheron River

Acheron River, Canterbury

The Acheron River is a river in Canterbury, New Zealand and flows from Lake Lyndon south into the Rakaia River.Small deposits of coal are found near the river...

. Coal mining declined in the 20th century and has now ceased, but since the 1950s, commercial processing of bentonite

Bentonite

Bentonite is an absorbent aluminium phyllosilicate, essentially impure clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite. There are different types of bentonite, each named after the respective dominant element, such as potassium , sodium , calcium , and aluminum . Experts debate a number of nomenclatorial...

 has taken place in Coalgate.

On 3 November 1875, the Whitecliffs Branch railway was opened, with a station in Coalgate. It was here that a private line diverged from the state-operated New Zealand Railways Department

New Zealand Railways Department

The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway system. The Department was created in 1880 and was reformed in 1981 into the New...

 network. On 31 March 1962, the railway closed, but some of the line's old formation

Track bed

A track bed or trackbed is the term used to describe the groundwork onto which a railway track is laid. Trackbeds of disused railways are sometimes used for recreational paths or new light rail links....

and the Coalgate station platform can still be found.

Notable features are the Coalgate Tavern and the Coalgate Cabins, both situated on the main road to Hororata. Coalgate also has a walkway through the old Coalgate Domain. In addition to these there is also a Coalgate Bowling green. The town has access to the Selwyn river and is closely situated to Glentunnel.