Canterbury Region

Christchurch was founded as a well-ordered Church of England enterprise, intended to recreate a slice of England in the South Pacific. During the early years, the Canterbury Association brought 3500 carefully selected settlers to Christchurch with the first 'pilgrims' arriving in four ships in 1850. Among these immigrants, the gentry were well represented as well as tradesmen and agricultural workers. The best Canterbury land was acquired by those with social standing and money and in a short time huge sheep runs were producing even more wealth for their owners. Much of this capital went into Christchurch's civic buildings which were designed to be both imposing and also 'thoroughly English'. The city's English heritage is still evident today, especially in the Gothic-style buildings, while the Avon River with its overhanging willows and small punts out on the water, evokes images of a traditional English university town.

Cathedral Square, Christchurch

1cathedral square

The trip starts at Cathedral Square.
At the heart of Christchurch is the Cathedral Church of Christ, the focal point of Cathedral Square. Plans were drawn up for this Gothic Revival style Cathedral by English architect George Gilbert Scott shortly after the arrival of the 'first four ships' carrying immigrants to Christchurch. Work began in 1864 but came to a halt because of lack of funds and it was another 40 years before the Cathedral with its tall copper-sheathed spire was completed. Nearby is the old Post Office and Four Ships Court where the names of the first pilgrims to arrive are engraved in the marble slabs on its walls.

John Robert Godley

2ANTIGUA BOATSHEDS

From the Square, go west down Worcester Street to the brick Queen Anne design Municipal Chambers. Nearby are statues of famous historic figures including Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott and John Robert Godley, who led the first Canterbury Association settlers into an area that was largely an unwelcoming swampland at the time. Cross the old wrought-iron bridge over the Avon and turn left into Cambridge Terrace. On the right is the Canterbury Club, a long established gentlemen's club built in 1873 complete with a hitching rail and an original gas lantern on its street frontage. Follow Cambridge Terrace past the Bridge of Remembrance, a memorial to the New Zealand troops who died in the First World War. To the south across the river is the beautiful wooden church of St Michael and All Angels. The church was built in 1872 but the detached belfry dates back to 1860 and houses a bell from one of the first four ships. Continue along Cambridge Terrace, following the banks of the Avon to the Antigua Boatsheds.
Built in 1882 for the Christchurch Boating Club, the Antigua Boatsheds are the only survivors of a number of similar boatsheds that once lined the Avon River. You can hire a vessel from the boatsheds and explore the river or relax in one of the fully upholstered punts and enjoy the scenery while a boatman does all the work.

3ARTS CENTRE

Continue along Cambridge Terrace heading north into Rolleston Avenue. The Arts Centre is on the right.
The Arts Centre, an impressive group of grey-stone Gothic buildings, was formerly Canterbury University. The clock tower block was built in 1877 and the Great Hall in 1882. Construction continued well into the next century to complete the cluster of buildings which are grouped around two quadrangles. Adjoining the north quandrangle is Lord Rutherford's den, complete with some of the laboratory equipment he used. It was here that the famous scientist, who later ‘split the atom’, carried out experiments in the 1890s.

4CHRISTCHURCH ART GALLERY

Head east to Hereford Street and north into Montreal Street. The Art Gallery is on the corner of Montreal Street and Worcester Boulevard.
Opened in 2003, the Christchurch Art Gallery/Te Puna o Waiwhetu is impressive with an expansive glass facade and extensive collection of New Zealand and international art. The Christchurch Art Gallery, which opened in 2003, replaced the Robert McDougall Art Gallery as home for the city’s extensive art collection. This is the largest art institution in the South Island and features two floors of exhibition space, educational areas and an auditorium. From the first days of the settlement, the Canterbury Association had always had a vision of Christchurch as a place where art, literature and culture would flourish. In the 1860s some of the earliest writings of Samuel Butler were published in the Press. He later became famous for his satirical fantasy Erewhon (1870) which drew on his New Zealand experiences. Mary Anne Barker published her accounts of life on a high-country sheep station in the 1860s while George Chamier’s also based his novels on his real-life experiences in Canterbury. By 1898, poet and politician William Pember Reeves had produced the first comprehensive history of New Zealand. Many of the early artists that captured Canterbury’s distinctive landscapes, including Nicholas Chevalier, C. D. Barraud and J. B. C. Hoyte were wayfarers rather than residents, but the artists that followed them created a regional art movement, foreshadowed by masters such as Petrus van der Velden. Architecture in Christchurch also flourished from the 1850s under Benjamin Mountfort and his successor Samuel Hurst Seager. The futuristic Christchurch Art gallery is a bold and imaginative structure that contrasts with the gothic structures that dominate the central parts of the city.

5CHRIST'S COLLEGE

Continue west on Worcester Boulevard. Ahead is the entrance to the 30 ha Botanic Gardens, enclosed within a loop of the Avon, with flower beds and conservatories set among the lawns and woods. A short distance further on the Ieft is the Canterbury Museum built in 1870, which has excellent displays on moa and their hunters. Christ's College is the next complex of buildings on the left.
All the first schools established in Canterbury were run privately or by the churches. The ideal standard of free education for everybody was not achieved until 1863, following the establishment of state elementary schools by the Provincial Government. Primary education, however, did not become free until the Education Act was passed in 1877, while secondary education remained out of reach for many until as late as 1936. The oldest educational institution in Canterbury is Christ’s College, an endowed fee-paying boys’ school, founded in 1850 by the Canterbury Association. Grouped around a grass quadrangle, beautiful stone structures are one of the features of Christ's College. Established in the tradition of a British grammar school, the earliest buildings date back to 1857. The Big School, designed by Superintendent Fitzgerald and built in 1863, is the oldest educational building still in use in the country. The New Classrooms, built in 1886, were designed by Benjamin Mountfort, while the Dining Hall, the Hare Library with the clock and Jacob's House were all designed by Cecil Wood and built between 1915 and 1925.

6THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS

Continue north on Rolleston Avenue to the junction with Armagh Street where an old bridge crosses into Hagley Park. Landscaping and tree-planting was under way in the park just 10 years after the first settlers arrived in Christchurch. Turn right into Armagh Street heading east. Cranmer Square is on the left and the Gothic edifice of the old Christchurch Girls' School is on the right. Two blocks further on the right, on the banks of the Avon River, are the Provincial Government Buildings.
The Provincial Government Buildings are an excellent example of Gothic architecture, combining stone and timber. Designed by Benjamin Mountfort, the city's most notable early architect, the wooden sections were built between 1858 and 1861. Redstone towers break up the lines of the vertical weatherboards and there is Gothic detailing on the wooden wing. One of Mountford’s most impressive achievements is the interior of the stone chamber, work on which began in 1864. Its walls are decorated with encaustic tiles set in geometric patterns and the magnificent stained-glass windows in this building caste a jewel-like light across the richly coloured interior of the building. The original council chamber features a stone-flagged corridor while the Provincial Council Chamber completed in 1865 is a perfect example of High Victorian Gothic design with its intricate decoration and soaring roof.

7EDMoNDS BAND ROTUNDA

The Law Courts are on the opposite side of the road to the Provincial Government Buildings. Continue east on Armagh Street across a quaint old bridge to Victoria Square where statues of Queen Victoria (1903) and Captain Cook (1932) occupy a small open space that was once the commercial heart of the city. An old stone ramp nearby that leads down to the Avon was once used for watering horses. Turn left into Colombo Street and head north across a bridge to the Town Hall on the left with its impressive fountain. Turn right into Kilmore Street then right into Cambridge Terrace and head east along the Avon River to the Italianate Edmunds Band Rotunda which dates back to 1929.
Located near the corner of Manchester Street and Cambridge Terrace, the old Edmonds Band Rotunda looks over the Avon River near the middle of town. Donated to Christchurch by Thomas Edmonds, the Band Rotunda was originally opened in 1929 and was later converted to a restaurant in 1989. It is the location of numerous events including a free concerts.

From the band rotunda, turn right onto Manchester Street and head south, crossing the Manchester bridge, then take the fourth turn right and head west along Worcester Street to return to Cathedral Square.