Amberley is a town located in the Hurunui District in north Canterbury, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand.

Amberley was established in 1864 by Mrs. Frederica Josephine Carter who owned freehold land north of the Kowai river.

Mrs. Carter subdivided and sold her pastoral run for eight pounds per quarter acre.

The town was named Amberley after Mrs. Carter's family farm in Oxfordshire, England.

[3] A branch (a two-story building) of the Bank of New South Wales was established in Amberley in 1890.

[4] A decision to install a water supply for Amberley was made in 1953 with the work being completed in 1957.

In 1963, planning permission was granted for four shops to be built on Main North Road.

This led to other retail businesses moving to Main North Road and further growth in Amberley.

[5] The Marathon Rubber Footwear factory closed in December 1977 which resulted in 26 redundancies.

[6] Amberley is defined by Statistics New Zealand as a small urban area and covers 3.70 km2 (1.43 sq mi).

[8] The warmest months of the year are January and February, with an average high temperature of 23 °C.

The coldest month of the year occurs in July, when the average high temperature is 11 °C.

There is also a playground, skate park, bowls club, tennis and squash courts and multiple playing fields for rugby, soccer and cricket at the Amberley Domain.

[10] The Catholic Church of the Most Holy Passion was built in 1866 by Sir Frederick Weld.

[12] It is owned by the Amberley Historical Society and houses a collection of furnishings and clothing from the early settlers of the area.

[11] Previous owners built extensive stables to support a horse breeding business.

There are extensive grounds and it operates part time as a wedding venue and offers garden tours.

Nearby the statue sit three limestone carvings, labelled The Grandmothers, which celebrate the ancient Waitaha people.

Amberley itself sits inland on state highway one and the main train line running north from Christchurch to Picton.

[20]  The Amberley beach walkway offers a 20-minute walk of native bush and water features.

[20][dead link‍] Amberley Beach is described as a rural settlement by Statistics New Zealand and has an area of 0.21 km2 (0.081 sq mi).

The golf course was originally a total of 9 holes based on sheep paddocks opposite Amberley House on state highway one.