Settlement 25km north-east of Waipara. It developed after the railway arrived in 1902. Because it lies off State Highway 1, it has remained a small local centre. Its growth was checked when Greta Valley township was built nearby.
Meaning of place name
The name was given by Charles Clifford and Frederick Weld, probably on 26 December 1850, when they acquired the Stonyhurst run, in memory of Scargill in Yorkshire, England. The name means Valley of mergansers - a merganser being a bird also known as a goosander, related to a duck.
