Last updated November 2026
Much of what you see above the shop verandahs in central Hastings went up in the years after the Hawke’s Bay earthquake. The Central Hastings Heritage Walks are two self-guided routes, East and West, that start at the Hastings Clock Tower and follow numbered stops through the city centre.
A free booklet by the Hastings District Heritage Trails Society, hosted on Hastings District Council’s website, explains each building, from Spanish Mission stores and theatres to Art Deco shopfronts and the sites of buildings lost in the quake.
The East route takes in the civic heart of the city around the Municipal Theatre, the Cenotaph and Civic Square. The West route heads along Heretaunga Street West and nearby streets, past churches, shops and one of the best-known survivors of the earthquake.
Practical Information
- Start and finish
- Hastings Clock Tower, in the city centre mall on Heretaunga Street
- Routes
- Two walks, Central Hastings Heritage Walk East and Central Hastings Heritage Walk West
- Entry
- Free
- Guide
- The Central Hastings Heritage Walks booklet (PDF) by the Hastings District Heritage Trails Society, on Hastings District Council’s heritage trails page
- Status
- Check Hastings District Council’s heritage trails page before you go.
About the Central Hastings Heritage Walks
The walks are part of the Hawke’s Bay heritage trail network, which the council says is meant to be done in part or in full, in your own time, using brochures and trail signs. The Central Hastings booklet sits on the council’s heritage trails page alongside trails for Havelock North, Clive, Farndon and the wider district.
The story the walks tell begins on 3 February 1931. The Hawke’s Bay earthquake, magnitude 7.8, destroyed many buildings in central Hastings, including the post office clock tower, and 93 people from Hastings died.
Rebuilding gathered pace from the mid-1930s, and Heritage New Zealand notes that it left Hastings with a high concentration of 1930s architecture, with many Spanish Mission and Art Deco buildings around Russell Street.
The booklet helps you tell the styles apart. Spanish Mission, which Heritage New Zealand says was already established in Hastings before the earthquake, shows in tiled roofs, arches and decorative ironwork. The booklet’s main tip is to look up, because much of the detail sits on the facades above the verandahs.
The East Walk
From the clock tower, designed by Sydney Chaplin and completed in 1935, the East walk goes first to the former Westerman and Company store on the corner of Russell Street.
Edmund Anscombe designed its replacement after the earthquake mainly in the Spanish Mission style with some Art Deco touches, and Heritage New Zealand describes it as probably the first major building completed in Hastings after the quake.
Further on is the former Hastings Municipal Theatre, now the Toitoi Opera House. It was designed by Henry Eli White and built by Bull Brothers of Napier, opening in 1915 with an Art Nouveau interior.
Around Civic Square the route passes the Women’s Rest, opened in 1921 as rest rooms for women visiting town, the Cenotaph, and a statue of Major General Sir Andrew Russell nearby.
The West Walk
The West walk mixes surviving buildings with the sites of ones that have gone. On Heretaunga Street West, Villa d’Este is a row of Spanish Mission shops and flats designed by Albert Garnett in 1929; its front was badly damaged in the quake, taken down and rebuilt.
A highlight near the end is the Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Co-operative building, designed by Edmund Anscombe and opened in 1930. Built on a floating foundation meant to cope with large earthquakes, it came through the 1931 quake, and the booklet notes that it is often called the town’s most prominent survivor of the quake.
From locals
Which heritage walk goes past the Toitoi Opera House in Hastings?
Is it easy to find parking near the Clock Tower on a weekday?
No answers yet. If you know, a local would love to hear it.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where do the Central Hastings Heritage Walks start?
Both walks start at the Hastings Clock Tower in the city centre mall on Heretaunga Street.
Who produced the booklet?
The Hastings District Heritage Trails Society. Hastings District Council hosts it as a PDF on its heritage trails page.
Do the walks cost anything?
No. The council describes its heritage trails as a free activity, and the booklet can be downloaded from its heritage trails page.
Why does central Hastings have so many Spanish Mission and Art Deco buildings?
The 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake destroyed many buildings in the town centre, and much of the rebuilding came in the 1930s, leaving a high concentration of buildings in those styles.
How do I recognise a Spanish Mission building?
Look for tiled roofs, arches and decorative ironwork, and look up above the verandahs, where the booklet says most of the detail is.
Which buildings survived the earthquake?
One of the best known is the Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Co-operative building on the West walk, built on a floating foundation and opened in 1930.
Does the East walk pass the Sir Andrew Russell statue?
Yes. The statue of Major General Sir Andrew Russell stands near the Cenotaph in Civic Square, and both are stops on the East walk.
Spotted something incorrect on this page? Let us know.
Related links 3
- Hastings District Council: Central Hastings Heritage Walks (PDF): the full booklet, with maps and notes on every stop of both walks.
- Hastings District Council: Heritage trails: the Hawke’s Bay heritage trail network and links to every trail booklet.
- Heritage New Zealand: Westerman’s and Co. Building (Former): the history of one of the first buildings finished after the earthquake.