[4] Marchwiel is in the Rangitata parliamentary electorate and is represented by Jo Luxton of the New Zealand Labour Party.

In 1879, the Marchwiel Estate was sold by Philip Bouverie Luxmoore, as reported by The Timaru Herald.

The estate was named for Luxmoore's home village of Marchwiel, North Wales.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 51.3% had no religion, 37.3% were Christian, 0.5% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.8% were Hindu, 0.3% were Muslim, 0.1% were Buddhist and 1.5% had other religions.

It was divided in 1984 into a technical institure (later called Aoraki Polytechnic) and a secondary school, Mountainview High, on a new site.

[14] St Joseph's School is a state-integrated Catholic primary serving years 1 to 8[15] with a roll of 227.