Your Place - Leigh

A beach holiday destination 90 odd kilometres north of Auckland. The village dates back to 1858, but Maori settlement started centuries before that, and at the time of the first European arrival, Ngati Manuhiri chief Te Kiri ruled the district. Settlers from Nova Scotia arrived in the 1830s and cleared the forest for farmland. A saw mill was established at the head of the harbour and the area became associated with the boat building industry. The town took its name from an early 19th century missionary who had visited on a number of occasions but never settled there. He was the Reverend Samuel Leigh.