Christchurch has many sites and buildings of historic significance.
A small selection of the places open to the public are presented here. Please
note that entry is not necessarily free, sometimes admission is by donation or
koha, and you may need to make a special appointment to view. Please pay a visit
and help keep our heritage places alive!
Remember to visit the properties
in the care of the Historic Places Trust - you can find out more about those in
the Canterbury region by clicking the map at right.
Addington Water Tower
Clarence Street, Addington
This Christchurch water tower was one of the world's
first structures in reinforced concrete. It was built in 1883 to provide a pressure
water supply for the Addington Railway Workshops.
Worcester Boulevard - Rolleston
Avenue - Hereford Street - Montreal Street
The Arts Centre is located in the original home of Canterbury
College, (later Canterbury University) established in 1877.
The Clock Tower
Block, built 1877 to the designs of B.W. Mountfort, was the first permanent building
on the site which is now the venue for a range of arts, crafts, entertainment
and shopping. Includes Rutherford's Den where Ernest Rutherford carried out research.
Open: Daily 9.30am-5.00pm.
Entry to the den by gold coin
donation. Free guided tours available daily. Information Centre located in the
Clock Tower, Worcester Boulevard
The Brewery is located in one of Christchurch's oldest
and largest industrial landmarks. Heritage tours are available. These include
a visit to the Canterbury Brewery Heritage Museum which outlines the history of
brewing in New Zealand.
Tours: depart from Reception Area, Monday to Thursday:
10am and 2pm; Saturday: 1pm Bookings essential.
Tel: (03) 379 4940
for reservations.
Additional tours for groups of 10 or more by prior
arrangement
Ferrymead features an Edwardian township, including
a schoolhouse, picture theatre, bakery, jail, railway station, and a blacksmith.
Collections include aircraft, fire engines and public transport vehicles. Horse
and tram rides operate at weekends, and steam train rides on the first and third
Sundays of the month.
Godley Head is probably the most complete World War
II battery and camp complex remaining in New Zealand. Between 1950 and 1958 the
site continued in use as military training facility.
Visit during during daylight
hours.
The associated camp buildings are only open from time to time
on Open Days organised by the Godley Head Trust.
The cave was used as shelter by early Maori who hunted
moa. Sir Julius von Haast, first director of the Canterbury Museum, undertook
the first serious excavation of the cave in 1872, finding moa bones and artefacts.
A little further along the road is Moncks Cave where artefacts found included
a bailer and paddle.
Home of Dame Ngaio Marsh (1895-1982), a world-renowned
writer of crime fiction and an eminent Shakespearian producer. The house, designed
by leading Christchurch Arts and Crafts architect, Samuel Hurst Seagar, was built
when Ngaio was just 10, with subsequent enlargements. The house remains just as
she left it and provides a captivating insight into her private world.
This is the only memorial built specifically to commemorate
New Zealand women killed in war and is also believed to be the only purpose-built
chapel commemorating nurses killed in the war, in the world. It was originally
part of the hospital but now stands in its own garden reserve.
The chapel
was designed in the Arts and Crafts style by J.G. Collins and completed in 1927.
The interior includes carving by local craftsmen Frederick Gurnsey and Jake Vivian
and contains four windows by noted English glass artist Veronica Whall (1867 -1967).
Open: Daily, 1.00- 4.00 pm Closed Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Our City O-Tautahi provides the people of Christchurch
with a place for meetings, displays, information sharing and learning. It is located
in the original Municipal Chambers, built in 1887 and designed in the Queen Anne
style by Samuel Hurst Seagar.
The home of the Canterbury Provincial Council was built
in stages between 1858 and 1865 to the designs of Gothic revival architect B.W.
Mountfort. The buildings functioned as the centre of government for Canterbury
from 1859 until 1876, when the system of provincial government was replaced by
central government.
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.30am - 3.30pm. Guided tours
are available and the Chambers may be hired. Special conditions apply
Deans Cottage (1843) is the oldest building on the Canterbury
Plains, first home of the pioneering Deans family. Adjoining this is the larger
home built by the family in stages between 1856 and 1900. It stands next to a
remnant of the original forest cover and with grounds containing many significant
early planted exotic trees.
Open: Deans Cottage and Bush - daily during daylight
hours.
Formerly the Chapel of Our Lady of Mercy, it was the
focal point for the complex of St Mary's Convent and school buildings owned by
the Sisters of Mercy.
It was designed and built by A and S Luttrell and was
opened in 1911. It contains excellent stained glass in the style of Pugin. The
chapel is now administered by the Rose Historic Chapel Trust.
Open Sundays
2.00 - 4.00pm, October-April. At other times by arrangement.
The chapel
may be hired for meetings, cultural events and ceremonies
This church formerly stood at the corner of Tuam St
and Oxford Terrace. It is the oldest Presbyterian church in Christchurch. It was
built in 1857 to the design of H.J. Cridland, but was altered on several occasions
in the 19th century. It now serves as the chapel for Rangi Ruru School.
The Sign of the Kiwi was one of several rest houses
built along the Summit Rd. Designed by Hurst Seagar, and constructed between 1914
and 17, it is a fine example of an Arts and Crafts Building. It still operates
as a tea room. Eight km further along the Summit Rd is the partially rebuilt Sign
of the Bellbird Shelter.
The Cathedral was designed by leading English Gothic
Revival George Gilbert Scott, the work being supervised by B. W. Mountfort. Building
began in the 1860s and the nave was consecrated in 1881, but the building was
not completed until 1904.
St Barnabas Church was built as a memorial to those
who died in the Great War 1914-18. The church is designed in the Arts and Crafts
Style by Cecil Wood. Work began in 1919 and it was consecrated on 20 November
1926.
This fine timber Gothic church replaced an earlier church
built on the site in 1851, the first Anglican church in Christchurch.
The present
church was designed by W.F. Crisp and built in 1872. The freestanding belfry was
designed by B. W. Mountfort and built in 1861. The bell it houses came to Canterbury
in 1850.
Intersection
of Victoria, Salisbury and Montreal Streets
The tower is one of the finest examples of Victorian
ironwork in New Zealand. The iron superstructure was brought from England in 1859
for the Provincial Government building, but was never used. In 1897 it was erected
on a stone base at the intersection of Manchester, Lichfield and High Streets
to mark Queen Victoria's Jubilee. It was shifted to the present site in 1930.
Learn
more about the historic sites in the care of the Historic Places Trust located
in and around the Canterbury
region of New Zealand
Heritage
Homes Tour
Step inside three Christchurch homes of different styles ranging
from old to contemporary. With a guide from the NZ Historic Places Trust, meet
local homeowners and discover more about Christchurch's colourful history. Read more
Learn
more about the historic sites in the care of the Historic Places Trust located
in and around the