Tīrau is a small town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand, 50 kilometres southeast of Hamilton.

Tīrau is primarily a farming town but in recent years has begun to exploit the income that comes from being at a major road junction.

[14] In 1886, James Anthony Froude visited Oxford and described it as having a single inn, with the town surrounded by desert with little vegetation growth.

[18] To avoid confusion with Oxford in Canterbury, the Piako County Council asked the name to be changed.

Oxford was the terminus for a few months until 21 June 1886, when the line was extended south to Putāruru[25] and Lichfield.

[26] On 3 days a week, from the start of the train service, a coach ran to Ohinemutu, at Rotorua.

In 1963 a new station in dark Huntly brick, with a storeroom, office, waiting room and platform for two railcars was built for about £4,800.

Like other Thames Valley & Rotorua stations, water was fed to a 6,000 imp gal (27 m3) brick tank, supplied from the Oraka Stream, about 90 ch (1.8 km) to the south, by a Blake[35] hydraulic ram.

[36] Fonterra still moves freight by rail from its Tīrau factory,[37] which runs a very large anaerobic digester.

[38] In 1991, local business man Henry Clothier took advantage of the town's relatively cheap real estate and high traffic volume by opening an Antique shop in the former Rose Bros. grocery store building.

Tīrau has built a reputation as a shopping destination for antiques, collectibles and other niche items.

[44] The town is now a well known tourist stop-off, and is characterised by many art works created out of corrugated iron.

The church and many of the shops feature corrugated iron sculptures by local artist Steven Clothier and two large buildings are completely made from this material; the information centre which is shaped like a giant dog,[45] and the neighbouring sheep and ram building[46] - earning Tīrau the title of "Corrugated Capital of the World".

The Castle, a large toy museum on the town's southern limits which opened in 2000, can clearly be seen when heading towards the township from Rotorua or Taupō.

The Tīrau dairy factory is New Zealand's only producer of lactalbumin, a key ingredient in the production of sports supplements.

[51] An Urban Connector bus runs twice a day between Tokoroa and Tīrau, via Putāruru and Lichfield.

[54][55] The nearest secondary school is Putaruru College, 8 kilometres (5 mi) south of Tīrau, in Putāruru.