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City of Gothic Proportions
Early Maori, the Waitaha, lived and gathered food here in the wetlands more
than 700 years ago. They were followed in the 1500s by Ngati Mamoe, then
Ngai Tahu in the 1700s. The Maori name for Christchurch, O-Tautahi,
means the place of Tautahi. It is derived from the name of a Ngai Tahu chief,
Tautahi, who had a settlement on the banks of the Otakaro (Avon River) in
the vicinity of the Avon loop. 1 2 5 6 9
Cranmer Courts Cranmer Centre Arts Centre Clock Tower Antigua Street Boatsheds Bridge Of Remembrance
Although Captain James Cook sighted Banks ‘Island’ in February 1770 it Cranmer Square; architect: Cranmer Square; architect: Cambridge Terrace; architect: Cashel Street; architects: Gummer
Block
was not until 1815 that the first European landed in Canterbury from a S.C. Farr; built: 1876 W.B. Armson; built: 1881 unknown; built: 1882 and Ford; built: 1924 10
Worcester Street; architect:
sealing ship, the Governor Bligh.
The Normal School provided primary Christchurch Girls’ High School was B.W. Mountfort; built: 1876-79 These are the only surviving Designed as a triumphal arch, the
In 1840, the same year Ngai Tahu became a Treaty partner of the British education and was Christchurch’s first one of the first girls’ schools to be commercial boatsheds of the five or Bridge of Remembrance was Library Chambers
The first permanent building of the
Crown, the first European settlers on the Canterbury Plains landed in teachers’ training college. Its adaptive established in New Zealand and six that once offered craft for hire for constructed to commemorate those Cambridge Terrace; architects:
University of Canterbury was the
Lyttelton but soon abandoned attempts to establish a farm. They were reuse was one of Christchurch’s early remained on site until the 1980s. pleasure boating on the Avon River. lost in WW1. It is on the site of the W.B. Armson/Collins & Harman;
clocktower block. It is part of a
followed in 1843 by William and John Deans who successfully started conservation success stories. Saved Gothic Revival in style and brick in Fibreglass canoes, paddle boats and former Cashel Street bridge that troops built: 1875/1893/1923
complex of Halswell stone, Gothic
farming in the Riccarton area which they named after their home parish in from demolition in the 1980s, Gothic construction, the earliest part of the Revival buildings which housed the punts have replaced the rowing boats from the King Edward Barracks (now This cluster of buildings served as a
Scotland. Revival facades were retained in a building was added to substantially in university. Designed by various of previous years, but the present demolished) had crossed on their way public library until 1982 when it was
project that saw the rest of the large L- 1907, 1913, 1938, 1958 and 1962. architects and built over nearly half a generation still enjoys the leisurely to the railway station to depart for converted to commercial uses. The
Four years later John Robert Godley and Edward Gibbon Wakefield were shaped building opened out to form Now, as the Cranmer Centre, the pastime as much as those who appear active service. The bridge now original part of the building is a fine
instrumental in the establishment of the Canterbury Association whose plan century, the buildings of what is now
apartments and a restaurant. building is owned as part of Christ's the Arts Centre include thriving studios, in old photos of parties boating through commemorates the dead from all wars example of Venetian Gothic
was to found a church of England colony that looked “just like home”. College. the Botanic Gardens. that Canterbury troops have fought in. architecture. The site was an early
Christchurch was named after Godley’s former Oxford College, Christ boutiques, shops, restaurants and
workshops. Sculptural elements were carved by Maori urupa or burial ground.
Church. F.G. Gurnsey.
The area of land surveyed by Captain Joseph Thomas and his assistant
Edward Jollie for the city of Christchurch remains in the same plan form
today; a grid pattern of streets around a central square with diagonal streets
to the north and south.
Canterbury Association ships carrying the first Canterbury pilgrims arrived
in December 1850; the Charlotte Jane and the Randolph on 16 December
1850, Sir George Seymour the following day, and the Cressy on 27
December.
Despite the hardships of colonisation the city of Christchurch quickly took
shape on the Canterbury Plains. Schools, parishes and businesses were soon
established. By 31 July 1856 Christchurch had become a City by Royal
Charter, making it the oldest city in New Zealand.
The city’s leading early architect, Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort, left an Published by:
3 4 7 8 11 12
enduring legacy with his Gothic Revival inspired buildings. After just 60 Christ's College Dining Canterbury Museum Nurses' Memorial Chapel The Canterbury Club Our City O-Tautahi
St Michael And
years of organised settlement Christchurch was a thriving, confident city
Hall Rolleston Avenue; architect: Riccarton Avenue; architect: All Angels Cambridge Terrace; architect: Worcester Street; architect:
with distinctive buildings that reflected the great variety of architectural
Rolleston Avenue; architect: B.W. Mountfort; built: 1870-77 J.G.Collins; built: 1927-28 Oxford Terrace; architect: Frederick Strouts; built: 1872-73 S. Hurst Seager; built: 1887 New Zealand Historic Places Trust Pouhere Taonga
tastes favoured in late Victorian and Edwardian times. Become a member of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust Pouhere
Cecil Wood; built: 1928 Fine stonework, a prominent tower, The Chapel is this country's only W.F. Crisp; built: 1872 Founded in 1872 as a social club for The Queen Anne design of the
Taonga. To find out more about the organisation visit
Founded in 1850, Christ’s College is large rose window and distinctive memorial built specifically to One of New Zealand’s finest examples city men, partly in reaction to the Christchurch City Council’s first
We invite you to explore a small sample of the city’s sites and www.historic.org.nz or the Southern Regional Office, Ist Floor, 90
housed in a magnificent precinct of porch all contribute to the charm of a commemorate New Zealand women of a Gothic Revival church built in pastoral domination of the older permanent home was a marked
architecture. Most buildings can only be viewed from the Hereford Street, Christchurch. Tel: (03) 365 2897
buildings of different ages set around building that illustrates B.W. killed in war. Originally part of the old timber, the present St Michael’s - the Christchurch Club, the Canterbury departure from the prevailing Gothic
street but a number of public buildings and churches are open Mountfort’s skill in adapting Gothic to hospital, it now stands in a garden Club commisioned Frederick Strouts Revival architecture of Christchurch
an open quadrangle. The oldest ‘mother church’ of Anglicanism in
to the public. Enjoy their diverse architecture and history. secular requirements. Building of the setting. With its extensively timbered to design premises for its members in at the time. The brick facades of the
surviving building is the stone Big Christchurch - replaced a simpler
School, 1863. Prominent on the street Canterbury Museum, haunt of interior and fine stained glass it has building on the same site. The church a domestic Italianate style. The gas building are attractively decorated and
frontage is the fine Memorial Dining generations of young Cantabrians, long been a tranquil retreat for patients, has fine interior detailing and stained lamp and hitching post on the footpath varied. On the south facade are two Christchurch City Council
Cover Hall, designed by Cecil Wood, a began on the site in 1870. The familiar relatives and staff. Four of the nine glass. The free-standing belfry beside at the Club’s front door are unusual terracotta figures, the work of Sir Find out more about the Christchurch City
Christ Church Cathedral twentieth century architect who frontage was completed later that windows are by noted English glass it was designed by B.W. Mountfort features from the era when the Club George Frampton who sculpted Council’s role in heritage management by visiting
continued the traditions of Gothic decade. artist Veronica Whall (1887 - 1967). and built in 1861. The bell it houses was founded. Kensington Gardens’ Peter Pan. The www.ccc.govt.nz/christchurch/heritage/ or the
The soaring Cathedral spire has been an instantly recognisable symbol of
Revival stone architecture. came to Canterbury in 1850. building is now used for community Civic Offices, 163-173 Tuam Street, Christchurch.
Christchurch for more than 120 years. It has been through some shaky times
exhibitions and events. Tel: (03) 941 8999
though, with earthquakes damaging it in 1881, 1888 and 1901! For
information about the Cathedral see No. 18.
explore
Historic Christchurch
21
14 17 Former Government 25
Durham Street New Regent Street Fisher's Building
Building Hereford Street; architect:
Methodist Church off Gloucester Street; architect; 18 Worcester Street; architect: 26
13 22 W.B. Armson; built: 1881
Durham Street; architects: H. Francis Willis; built: 1932 J.C. Maddison; built: 1911
Provincial Council Crouch and Wilson; built: 1864 In the early 1930s the massive Christ Church Cathedral Its corner site and striking Venetian Shand's Emporium
With its imposing Renaissance palazzo The Press Building Gothic architecture make the Fisher's
Colosseum, used as a skating rink, Cathedral Square; architect: Hereford Street; architect:
Buildings Though Wesleyans and Methodists style the former Government Building Cathedral Square; architects: Building a landmark even among
theatre and factory, was demolished, G.G. Scott; completed: 1904 unknown; built: c.1860
Durham and Armagh Streets; were a small minority among has a powerful presence in the Square Collins & Harman; built: 1909 much larger, later buildings. It is
architect: B.W. Mountfort; Canterbury’s early settlers, they gave and an entire street built where it Conceived by the Canterbury and Worcester Street. It was built to Shand’s Emporium in Hereford Street
One of New Zealand’s best examples important as a surviving example of
built: 1858-65 Christchurch its first stone church. stood. The Spanish Mission style New Association in 1850, construction of house government departments when is the last remaining Victorian timber
of the Perpendicular Gothic style, this last century’s commercial architecture
The Halswell stone, Gothic Revival Regent Street is New Zealand’s only Christ Church Cathedral did not begin the Post Office in the Square could not commercial building in the central
Masterpiece of Christchurch’s most building is home to daily newspaper on a street which has been almost
church was designed by Crouch and example of a street built to a single until the 1860s. Although the nave provide sufficient accommodation. No city. Originally a solicitor’s office it is
renowned early architect, the The Press, founded in 1861. It is completely rebuilt in recent years. It
Wilson of Melbourne, but their design architectural style. On the tram route, was consecrated in 1881, the transepts longer required as government offices, an excellent example of the timber
Provincial Council Buildings include distinguished by its strong vertical takes its name from a local clergyman
was modified for economic reasons New Regent Street is known for its and chancel were not completed until the building has been converted into colonial buildings that once occupied
an older timber portion with a stone emphasis and subtle changes in the for whom it was built.
by a local architect, S.C. Farr. The cafes and specialist shops. 1904. The Cathedral was designed by apartments, shops and a restaurant. the streets of the city in the first decades
paved corridor, and a magnificent arrangement of windows on each floor.
buttressed south-east corner never did leading English architect of the day Sir of settlement in the mid nineteenth
stone Council Chamber with the finest An elegant tower containing a pigeon
acquire its spire. George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878). century.
Gothic Revival interior in New loft emphasises the building’s corner
Zealand. These are the only surviving site.
purpose-built Provincial Council
buildings in the country.
16
Theatre Royal 19 27 28
Former Chief Post Office 20 Former AJ White’s Cathedral of the
Gloucester Street; architects: The Regent Building
15 Cathedral Square; architect: 23 24 Department Store Blessed Sacrament
Luttrell Bros; built: 1907-08
W.H. Clayton; built: 1879 Cathedral Square; architects:
One of the city’s finest Edwardian (McKenzie and Willis) Barbadoes Street; architect:
Victoria Clock Tower The Italianate style of this building Luttrell Bros; built: 1905 Trinity Church Chistchurch Club
buildings, the Theatre Royal was Tuam Street; architects: F.W. Petre; built: 1905
cnr Victoria Street and Montreal complements the Cathedral’s Gothic Originally the Royal Exchange Worcester Street; architect: Latimer Square; architect: A.W. Simpson; built: 1878-79
erected in 1907-1908 to replace the A building of noble proportions and
Street; architect B W Mountfort Revival architecture. Used in later Building, this striking Edwardian B.W. Mountfort; built: 1874 B.W. Mountfort; built: 1862 England Bros; built 1910
earlier theatre of the same name which dramatic impact, the city’s basilican-
The clock and ironwork were brought years solely by the Post Office, it was building with its ornate tower was
still stands opposite. It had an For the Trinity Congregational Church, The haunt of early Canterbury Once home to one of New Zealand’s style Roman Catholic Cathedral is one
from England in 1860 to adorn the built originally to house all government converted to a movie theatre in 1930.
uncertain future until it was purchased B.W. Mountfort chose an Early English runholders, including the English earliest established furniture of New Zealand’s finest neo-
Canterbury Provincial Council offices. With its attractive tower and The Regent’s interior was rebuilt after
by a charitable foundation in 1980 to Gothic style to produce a church of author Samuel Butler, the Christchurch manufacturing and retailing firms, this Renaissance churches. The building
Buildings. Proving too heavy for the fine proportions, this is one of a major fire in 1980. Its elaborate
ensure the building would be retained intriguing design, perfectly suited to Club was an important centre of social pair of buildings contributes to the has an interior as powerful as its
timber structure, the clock was stored Christchurch’s most admired facades reflect the confidence of
for live performances. Its finely the congregation’s requirements for and political life in early Christchurch. heritage precinct of older commercial exterior and earned lavish praise from
until 1897 and erected on a stone buildings. It now includes Edwardian Christchurch better than
sculpted street facade is matched by an open preaching space. Now in The timber Italianate building has architecture in the High Street area. George Bernard Shaw when he visited
base on the corner of High and Christchurch’s visitor centre and any other surviving city building.
a lavishly decorated auditorium. private ownership, this striking stone varied facades and is notable for the The corner building was built with Christchurch in 1934.
Manchester Streets to celebrate offices. church has been well conserved. sophistication of its design while large windows and vertical lines. Its
Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. By 1930 it Christchurch was still little more than neighbour is a red brick Venetian
had become a traffic hazard and was a village. Forms traditionally executed Gothic building dating from the 1870s.
relocated to its current site. in stone are translated into timber.
