97-456: Cathedral Square , locally known simply as the Square , is the geographical centre and heart of Christchurch , New Zealand, where the city's Anglican cathedral, ChristChurch Cathedral is located. The square stands at the theoretical crossing of the city's two main orthogonal streets, Colombo Street and Worcester Street , though in practice both have been either blocked off or detoured around
194-504: A "square", its shape is that of a cruciform . Cathedral Square has a large number of buildings and statues that are registered as heritage items with Heritage New Zealand . Many of those were damaged in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake and because of earthquake damage some have been lost as a consequence. When steam trams began operating in the city in 1880, they left from the Square. Later, when buses replaced trams in 1954,
291-666: A Diploma of Fine Arts (Hons) and then spent a year at teachers' college. This was followed, with the help of a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council grant, by a Graduate Diploma in Sculpture from the Victorian College of the Arts , Melbourne , in 1973. On his return, Dawson drove a truck for four years and in 1975 began teaching drawing and design at Christchurch Polytechnic. He resigned from the Polytechnic in 1984 to work as
388-555: A city by royal charter on 31 July 1856, making it officially the oldest established city in New Zealand. Christchurch was heavily industrialised in the early 20th century, with the opening of the Main South Line railway and the development of state housing saw rapid growth in the city's economy and population. Christchurch has strong cultural connections with its European elements and architectural identity. Christchurch
485-612: A few months later in December 1856. In 1862 the Christchurch City Council was established. By 1874, Christchurch was New Zealand's fourth-largest city with a population of 14,270 residents. Between 1871 and 1876 nearly 20,000 immigrants arrived in Canterbury, and through the 1880s frozen meat joined wool as a primary export. The last decades of the nineteenth-century were a period of significant growth for
582-405: A few months later, which occurred directly under the city centre and also caused widespread damage, but this was less severe. Nearly two months later, on Tuesday 22 February 2011, an earthquake measuring magnitude 6.3 struck the city at 12:51 pm. Its hypocentre was located closer to the city, near Lyttelton, at a depth of 5 km (3 mi). Although lower on the moment magnitude scale than
679-458: A full-time sculptor out of the former Oddfellows ' Hall in Linwood . Dawson's smaller works often use illusion and such optical patterns as moiré to achieve their effects. Many of these works are wall-hangings, although stand-alone pieces using such everyday patterned items as playing cards and willow pattern crockery are also among Dawson's themes. Dr Michael Dunn , Emeritus Professor at
776-554: A grid pattern, centred on Cathedral Square . Growth initially took place along the tramlines, leading to radial development. Major expansion occurred in the 1950s and 60s, with the development of large areas of state housing . Settlements that had originally been remote, such as Sumner , New Brighton , Upper Riccarton and Papanui eventually became amalgamated into the expanding city. The Christchurch functional urban area , as defined by Statistics New Zealand, covers 2,408.1 km (929.8 sq mi). Towns and settlements in
873-795: A number of group exhibitions, his first solo dealer gallery show was House Alterations at the Brooke Gifford Gallery in Christchurch in 1978. The following year the Robert McDougall Art Gallery gave Dawson his first major public museum exhibition which he titled Seascape . Since then Dawson has held solo exhibitions regularly throughout New Zealand and in Australia. In 1989 The National Art Gallery in Wellington (now Te Papa Tongarewa ) presented
970-539: A number of minor natural disasters during this period. Heavy rain caused the Waimakariri River to flood Christchurch in February 1868. Victoria Square (known as Market Place at the time) was left underwater with "the whole left side of the [Avon] river from Montreal-street bridge to Worcester street was all one lake, as deep as up to a horse's belly". Christchurch buildings were damaged by earthquakes in 1869 , 1881 and 1888 . The 1888 earthquake caused
1067-435: A period when there was also slow subsidence in the eastern coastal plains of Canterbury and Christchurch. The result has been the deposition of sequences of mostly fluvial gravel (occurring during periods of low sea level and glaciation), and fine deposits of silt, sand and clay, with some peat, shells and wood (occurring during interglacial periods when the sea level was similar to the present). The layers of gravel beneath
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#17327913574091164-587: A population density of 1,370 people per km . Neil Dawson Francis Neil Dawson CNZM (born 6 November 1948) is a New Zealand artist best known for his large-scale civic sculptures. Dawson was born in Christchurch in 1948. The son of Methodist minister John Brent Dawson and Florence Emily ( née Carlisle ), he grew up in Masterton , Petone , and Hastings , and received his secondary education at Hastings Boys' High School where he
1261-413: A sphere 3.4 metres in diameter and suspended it above Wellington’s Civic Square. The work was taken down in 2015 and a new stainless steel version installed three years later. Ferns is often used as a visual symbol for Wellington and is recognised as a city icon. 2001 Chalice was commissioned to mark the 150th anniversary of Canterbury's foundation. This 18 metre high inverted cone was sited near
1358-556: A survey exhibition of Dawson’s work Neil Dawson Site Works 1981–1989 . Dawson is primarily known for his large scale civic sculpture. A selection of these is detailed below: 1981 Dawson’s first public outdoor sculpture was installed at the Christchurch Arts Centre . Titled Echo , it was constructed out of fibre glass tubing and suspended above the quadrangle. Although it seemed an abstract composition from most angles, when seen from one particular point it formed
1455-525: A visual connection with Christchurch Cathedral. Its current placement, however, is in the southern half of Latimer Square, not far from the Cardboard Cathedral . A structural engineer had approached Dawson in 2012 to enquire whether he wanted to design another sculpture for Christchurch, and when he agreed, she donated her time to undertake the structural design for the installation. 2017 Dawson’s sculpture Ascension can be seen suspended in
1552-527: Is also home to a number of performing arts centres and academic institutions (including the University of Canterbury ). Christchurch has hosted numerous international sporting events, notably the 1974 British Commonwealth Games at the purpose-built Queen Elizabeth II Park . The city has been recognised as an Antarctic gateway since 1901, and is nowadays one of the five Antarctic gateway cities hosting Antarctic support bases for several nations. Christchurch
1649-538: Is another of Christchurch's many references to Oxford , since Ridley was martyred there. In the original survey of central Christchurch (known as the Black Map ), which was undertaken in 1850, it was envisaged for Christ's College and ChristChurch Cathedral to be built adjacent to one another in Cathedral Square, modelled on Christ Church, Oxford . The area set aside for the college in Cathedral Square
1746-645: Is bounded to the east by the Pacific Ocean and to the south by the ancient volcanic complex of the Banks Peninsula . The Avon River (Ōtākaro) winds through the centre of the city, with a large urban park along its banks. With the exception of the Port Hills, it is a relatively flat city, on an average around 20 m (66 ft) above sea level. Christchurch has a reputation for being an English city, with its architectural identity and nickname
1843-556: Is defined as the area centred on Cathedral Square and within the Four Avenues (Bealey Avenue, Fitzgerald Avenue, Moorhouse Avenue and Deans Avenue). It includes Hagley Park , and the Christchurch Botanic Gardens . The design of the central city with its grid pattern of streets, city squares and parkland was laid out by 1850. The central city was among the most heavily damaged areas of Christchurch in
1940-651: Is recorded. The lowest temperature recorded in Christchurch was −9.4 °C (15 °F) in the suburb of Wigram in July 1945. On cold winter nights, the surrounding hills, clear skies, and frosty calm conditions often combine to form a stable inversion layer above the city that traps vehicle exhausts and smoke from domestic fires to cause smog. While not as bad as smog in Los Angeles or Mexico City, Christchurch smog has often exceeded World Health Organisation recommendations for air pollution. To limit air pollution,
2037-568: Is served by the Christchurch Airport in Harewood , the country's second-busiest airport. The city suffered a series of earthquakes from September 2010 , with the most destructive occurring on 22 February 2011 , in which 185 people were killed and thousands of buildings across the city suffered severe damage, with a few central city buildings collapsing, leading to ongoing recovery and rebuilding projects. Christchurch later became
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#17327913574092134-720: Is the largest city in the South Island and the second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand . Christchurch has an urban population of 415,100, and a metropolitan population of over half a million. It is located in the Canterbury Region , near the centre of the east coast of the South Island, east of the Canterbury Plains . It is located near the southern end of Pegasus Bay , and
2231-487: The Ballantynes department store on the corner of Cashel and Colombo Streets unexpectedly burned out of control, resulting in New Zealand's worst fire disaster . Despite being initially thought to be under control, the fire suddenly spread to the upper floors and consumed the entire building within minutes. The speed of the fire trapped 41 staff members on the upper floor, all of whom were killed. The department store
2328-659: The Bridle Path because the path was so steep that pack horses needed to be led by the bridle . Goods that were too heavy or bulky to be transported by pack horse over the Bridle Path were shipped by small sailing vessels some 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) by sea around the coast and up the Avon Heathcote Estuary to Ferrymead . Overturned boats at the Sumner bar were a frequent cause of new arrivals to
2425-589: The Charlotte Jane was the first to arrive on 16 December 1850. The Canterbury Pilgrims had aspirations of building a city around a cathedral and college, on the model of Christ Church in Oxford . Transport between the port and the new settlement at Christchurch was a major problem for the early settlers. By December 1849, Thomas had commissioned the construction of a road from Port Cooper, later Lyttelton , to Christchurch via Evans Pass and Sumner . By
2522-526: The Halswell River begins north-west of the Port Hills on the periphery of Christchurch and flows to Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora . As a consequence of the flat terrain and spring-fed streams, large parts of the area now occupied by Christchurch City were originally a coastal wetland, with extensive swamp forests. Much of the forest was destroyed by fire, mostly likely by the earliest inhabitants, from around 1000 CE . When European settlers arrived in
2619-536: The University of Auckland and a former head of Elam School of Fine Arts , describes Dawson in his book New Zealand Sculpture : A History as follows: Dawson's sculpture is individual, unique and easy to recognise. In fact his sculptures flout convention in their lightness of feel, their transparency and their escape from the conventions of earthbound pedestal-based display. Dawson has shown regularly with dealer galleries and public art museums since graduating from art school. Although he had already participated in
2716-526: The millennium , the sculpture was designed by Neil Dawson and is made up of forty-two leaf patterns featuring different plants. Before 2011, the Square was the city's main meeting place for people and was a regular site of street performers and speakers , one of the most notable was The Wizard of New Zealand . Following the earthquakes, Christchurch's Anzac Day dawn services were mostly held in Cranmer Square rather than Cathedral Square. This
2813-482: The 'Garden City' due to similarities with garden cities in England, but also has a historic Māori heritage. Christchurch has a temperate oceanic climate with regular moderate rainfall. The area of modern-day greater Christchurch was first inhabited by the historic Māori iwi Waitaha in the mid-thirteenth century. Waitaha, who occupied the swamplands with patchworks of marshland , were invaded by Kāti Māmoe in
2910-486: The 19th century, the area was a mixture of swamp and tussock grasslands, with only remnant patches of forest. An early European visitor was William Barnard Rhodes , captain of the barque Australian, who climbed the Port Hills from Lyttelton Harbour in September 1836 and observed a large grassy plain with two small areas of forest. He reported that "All the land that I saw was swamp and mostly covered with water". Most of
3007-485: The 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. Following the second earthquake, the Central City Red Zone was set up as an exclusion zone for public safety reasons, and many parts remained closed to the public until June 2013. A large number of heritage buildings were demolished following the earthquake, along with most of the city's high rise buildings . The Christchurch Central Recovery Plan was developed to lead
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3104-867: The Blessed Sacrament was opened in February 1905. It was designed by Francis Petre with inspiration from the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul in Paris. In 1906, the New Zealand International Exhibition opened in Hagley Park, which had over a million visitors. In 1908, the city experienced its first major fire which started at the Strange's Department Store and destroyed buildings in central Christchurch on High St, Cashel St and Lichfield Streets. Christchurch
3201-639: The Bus Exchange in Lichfield Street opened in November 2000. Since then, the public transport use of the Square was by the airport bus, taxis and shuttles. In February 2011 due to the earthquake the Square was closed off but was reopened on 30 June 2013, however some areas and buildings remained fenced off due to earthquake damage. Christchurch Christchurch ( / ˈ k r aɪ s . tʃ ɜːr tʃ / ; Māori : Ōtautahi )
3298-486: The Chief Censor, making the footage illegal to possess and distribute within New Zealand. On 2 June 2020, the attacker pleaded guilty to multiple charges of murder, attempted murder, and terrorism. On 27 August, he was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole, the first time such a sentence was handed down in New Zealand. Christchurch is halfway along the east coast of the South Island , facing
3395-658: The Christchurch urban area , 3,310 people in the Lyttelton urban area, 1,720 people in the Diamond Harbour urban area, and 6,770 people in rural settlements and areas. Christchurch City had a population of 391,383 in the 2023 New Zealand census , an increase of 22,377 people (6.1%) since the 2018 census , and an increase of 49,914 people (14.6%) since the 2013 census . There were 192,684 males, 196,557 females and 2,139 people of other genders in 150,909 dwellings. 4.5% of people identified as LGBTIQ+ . The median age
3492-565: The Christchurch Cathedral to reflect the spire. The surface of Chalice was cut to reveal shapes of plants indigenous to the area. Although the Cathedral suffered extensive damage from the 2011 Christchurch earthquake Chalice itself remained standing. Dawson told reporters he hoped the survival of the sculpture would be seen as ‘a symbol of the recovery rather than the quake itself’ 2005–2015 Dawson's sculpture Fanfare
3589-653: The North Island and invaded the Christchurch basin, ultimately gaining control of much of Canterbury. Kāi Tahu arrived a century later, and the two ultimately absorbed Waitaha through a mixture of conflict and marriage. For these early Māori, the area of Christchurch was an important foraging ground and a seasonal settlement. Several Māori settlements were within Christchurch during the early-nineteenth century, such as Pūtarikamotu in modern-day Riccarton , and Papanui . In both cases these were located in areas of surviving tall forest. In South New Brighton there
3686-458: The Port Hill almost reaching Governors Bay in the south-west. Eleven houses were destroyed by fire and over 2,076 hectares (5,130 acres) of land was burned. In 2024, a second fire on the Port Hills burned 700 hectares (1,700 acres). The fire was also started under similarly suspicious circumstances. Lessons from the 2017 fire contributed to a more effective emergency response, and the fire
3783-464: The Post Office closed in 1972. In the late 1990s / early 2000s, the Square underwent a significant reconstruction using new tiling. This was an often criticised project, for example for the amount of glare that the tiles gave off in dry weather conditions, or the tiles being slippery when wet. In 2001, The Chalice was revealed a large modern sculpture in the forum of an inverted cone dedicated to
3880-571: The South Pacific Ocean. With the exception of the Port Hills on Banks Peninsula to its south, the city sits on flat land, on average around 20 m (66 ft) above sea level. The present land mass of New Zealand split from the super continent of Gondwana around 85 million years ago. Prior to that time, mudstone and hardened sandstones commonly known as greywacke was deposited and deformed by tectonic movement. Following
3977-405: The Square was used as the main point of departure. For many years, the square was a busy road intersection. In 1962, the road in front of the cathedral was closed. In 1972 it was redeveloped to provide large pedestrian areas, and the south-west quadrant was closed to traffic. Trams returned in 1995, with the introduction of a tourist tram ride around the central city. Most buses left the Square when
Cathedral Square, Christchurch - Misplaced Pages Continue
4074-517: The Tautahi in question was the son of the Port Levy chief Huikai. Prior to that, Ngāi Tahu generally referred to the Christchurch area as Karaitiana , an anglicised version. "ChCh" is commonly used as an abbreviation of Christchurch . In New Zealand Sign Language , Christchurch is signed with two Cs. Prior to European occupation of the modern-day greater Christchurch area, the land
4171-537: The air in front of the building on its Willis street frontage. The rock-shaped ‘drawing’ was computer-generated and based on a rock found by Dawson in McCormack’s Bay a few kilometres from his studio. The BNZ moved its head office to Auckland in 1998, and some time after that The Rock was moved to its current site on the Willeston Street side of the building. 1989 Dawson was invited to participate in
4268-455: The area begins in approximately 1250 C.E., with evidence of prolonged occupation beginning no later than 1350 AD. These first occupants lived in coastal caves around modern-day Sumner , and preyed upon local species of moa . The early settlers and their descendants became known as the historic Waitaha iwi. Around c. 1500 the Kāti Māmoe iwi migrated south from the east coast of
4365-683: The area in 1849 and 1850. Working with his assistant, Edward Jollie , they named the various ports and settlements in the area, and chose a simple grid pattern for the streets of Christchurch. The First Four Ships were chartered by the Canterbury Association and brought the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton Harbour in 1850. These sailing vessels were the Randolph , Charlotte Jane , Sir George Seymour , and Cressy . The journey took three to four months, and
4462-511: The cathedral to be placed west of this thoroughfare. Christianity has adopted the practice of praying towards the East as the Orient was thought of as containing the mankind's original home. Hence, most Christian churches are oriented towards the east, and to comply with this convention, Henry Harper , Christchurch's first Bishop , lobbied to have the eastern side of Cathedral Square to be used for
4559-818: The census question. At the 2018 census, Europeans formed the majority in all sixteen wards, ranging from 57.7% in the Riccarton ward to 93.1% in the Banks Peninsula ward. The highest concentrations of Māori and Pasifika people were in the Linwood ward (18.3% and 9.0% respectively), followed by the Burwood ward (15.5% and 6.6%), while the highest concentrations of Asian people were in the Riccarton ward (34.9%) and Waimairi ward (26.7%). Christchurch urban area covers 294.43 km (113.68 sq mi) and had an estimated population of 403,300 as of June 2024, with
4656-544: The central city remaining relatively unchanged between 1914 and 1960, Christchurch grew rapidly during the 20th century in part due to the construction of many state houses . The earliest state houses were built in Sydenham in the 1900s, to house workers that were employed in nearby factories, with more houses built in 1909 near the Addington Railway Workshops . In November 1947, a basement fire at
4753-454: The city from the north. Fanfare was officially unveiled on 10 June 2015 by mayor Lianne Dalziel and Dawson. Dalziel, with reference to Fanfare's first installation in Sydney and to the destructive Christchurch earthquakes, said at the ceremony: 'today feels like it's come home and it's really going to be a big statement about what our city is and what it's going to become'. Dawson himself
4850-573: The city's anchor projects and the third new building in the Square since the earthquakes after Tūranga and the Spark building. In 2022 plans to renovate "tatty" corners of the square started these plans were meant to begin in 2019 but had been delayed. Minor work on these plans begun in late 2022 but in July 2023 work started on the completion of these plans infront of the Spark building, Distinction hotel and Old Government building. Although always called
4947-405: The city's founder, was unveiled on 6 August 1867 on a pedestal opposite the cathedral. It was the first public statue in New Zealand. The city's central post office was located alongside the square in 1879. Over the years Cathedral Square has been redesigned on several occasions. Two significant changes took place when the road in front of the cathedral was closed in 1965, and the road in front of
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#17327913574095044-613: The city, despite the national economic depression. Many of the city's stone Gothic Revival buildings by provincial architect Benjamin Mountfort date from around this period, including Canterbury University College , ChristChurch Cathedral , Canterbury Museum , and the Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings , among others. Mountfort oversaw construction of a prison on Lincon Road in 1874, which operated until 1999. Christchurch experienced
5141-533: The colony losing all their luggage. The Sumner Road was completed in 1857, though this did not alleviate the transport problems. In 1858 the provincial superintendent William Sefton Moorhouse announced that a tunnel would be dug between Lyttelton and Christchurch. While the tunnel was under construction, New Zealand's first public railway line, the Ferrymead Railway , opened from Ferrymead to Christchurch in 1863. Between 1853 and 1876 Christchurch
5238-459: The eastern Canterbury plains and Christchurch area form an artesian aquifer with the interbedded fine sediments as an impermeable layer, or aquiclude. Water pressure from the artesian aquifer has led to the formation of numerous spring-fed streams. In Christchurch, the Avon River / Ōtākaro and Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River rivers have spring-fed sources in the western suburbs of Christchurch, and
5335-464: The eastern, southern and northern parts of the city were wet areas when European settlement began. Over the period since European settlement commenced, land drainage works have enabled development of land across the city. There are now only small remnants of wetland remaining, such as Riccarton Bush , Travis Wetland , Ōtukaikino wetland, and the Cashmere Valley. Christchurch Central City
5432-525: The exhibition Magiciens de la Terre at the Pompidou Centre in Paris. The curator Jean-Hubert Martin intended the exhibition to offer a ‘correcting perspective’ on Euro-centric programming. Globe was an 85kg metallic sphere depicting the earth from space. It was suspended 25 metres above the courtyard outside the Pompidou which created considerable logistical problems. 1992 Throwback
5529-495: The first, of magnitude 5.8 according to the US Geological Survey, 26 km (16 mi) north-east of the city at a depth of 4.7 km (2.9 mi), at 13:58, followed by several aftershocks and another earthquake of magnitude 6.0 and similar location 80 minutes later. On 13 February 2017, two bush fires started on the Port Hills . These later merged and the single large wildfire extended down both sides of
5626-463: The functional urban area include: Christchurch has a temperate oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ) with a mild summer, cool winter, and regular moderate rainfall. It has mean daily maximum air temperatures of 22.6 °C (73 °F) in January and 10.9 °C (52 °F) in July. Summer in the city is mostly warm, but is often moderated by a sea breeze from the north-east. A notable feature of
5723-619: The highest 7.8 metres of the Christchurch Cathedral spire to collapse, many chimneys were broken, and the Durham Street Methodist Church had its stonework damaged. In November 1901, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake , centred near Cheviot , caused the spire on top of ChristChurch Cathedral to collapse again, but this time only the top 1.5 metres fell. On this occasion, it was rebuilt with timber and metal instead of stone. The Catholic Cathedral of
5820-451: The highest for the Christchurch metropolitan area was 42.4 °C (108 °F) recorded in Rangiora on the same day. In winter, subfreezing temperatures are common, with nights falling below 0 °C (32 °F) an average of 50 times a year at Christchurch Airport and 23 times a year in the city centre. There are on average 80 days of ground frost per year. Snowfall occurs on average three times per year, although in some years none
5917-471: The mountains carried alluvial gravels over the area that is now the Canterbury Plains , covering the underlying rock to depths of between 200 and 600 metres. Continuing tectonic movement created faults that penetrate from the greywacke rock into the layers above. These faults remain beneath Canterbury and Christchurch. The glacial/interglacial cycles of the Quaternary Period led to multiple rises and falls in sea level. These sea level changes occurred over
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#17327913574096014-447: The one-way system running through central Christchurch was established. The first two streets to be made one-way were Lichfield and St Asaph streets. They were followed by Barbadoes, Madras, Salisbury and Kilmore streets. A police station opened in 1973 on Hereford street, it was imploded and demolished in 2015. Christchurch hosted the 1974 British Commonwealth Games at the purpose-built Queen Elizabeth II Park . The sports complex
6111-403: The outlines of a simple house. Dawson described the installation as ‘a three-dimensional life-sized drawing’ The work was removed after the Christchurch earthquake in 2010 and reinstalled in 2021. 1984 Dawson was commissioned by the Bank of New Zealand for a large sculpture outside its Wellington head office . The 5 metre by 4 metre sculpture titled The Rock was suspended 4 metres in
6208-407: The planned new city, including its own cathedral, the smallest in England. Other possibilities are that it was named for Christchurch, Dorset , or for Canterbury Cathedral . Many of the early colonists did not like the name, preferring instead the name Lyttelton, but the Colonists' Council resolved to stick with the name of Christchurch in 1851, because it had been used by surveyors and distinguished
6305-420: The population of workers in the city, which soon spread industrialisation to Sydenham . As central Christchurch grew, many cottages were demolished to make way for light-industrial and retail premises near Moorhouse Avenue as they expanded south. Many churches were also built to compensate for its growing Christian population. The population of Christchurch exceeded 100,000 for the first time in 1919. Despite
6402-418: The previous earthquake, the intensity and violence of the ground shaking was measured to be IX ( Violent ) , among the strongest ever recorded globally in an urban area, which killed 185 people. On 13 June 2011 Christchurch was again rocked by two more large aftershocks . This resulted in more liquefaction and building damage, but no more lives were lost. There were further earthquakes on 23 December 2011;
6499-414: The pro-cathedral. That way, the main entrance would face Colombo Street, resulting in praying towards the east in line with convention. The Cathedral Square Amendment Ordinance 1859 , which was passed a year after the previous ordinance, formalised the change in placement of the cathedral. Just before work on the cathedral's foundations began in 1864, the alignment of Colombo Street through Cathedral Square
6596-516: The rebuild of the city centre, and featured 17 "anchor projects". There has been massive growth in the residential sector in the central city, particularly in the East Frame development. There are currently no legal definition of the boundaries of suburbs in Christchurch. The suburb boundaries are largely defined by third-party agencies, such as Statistics New Zealand and New Zealand Post , and may differ between agencies or sources. The earliest suburbs of Christchurch were laid out with streets in
6693-446: The regional council banned the use of open fires in the city in 2006. Christchurch City covers a land area of 1,415.15 km (546.39 sq mi) and had an estimated population of 415,100 as of June 2024, with a population density of 293 people per km . This is the second-most populous area administered by a single council in New Zealand, and the largest city in the South Island . The population comprises 403,300 people in
6790-406: The retail business of the central city moving out to urban shopping malls. These typically included large car parking areas to suit the growing shift towards personal car ownership, and away from public transport. Hornby became a significant industrial suburb in the 1960s, with industrial and residential premises expanding westwards. The Lyttelton road tunnel between Lyttelton and Christchurch
6887-407: The settlement from the port. The Māori name for modern-day Christchurch is Ōtautahi , meaning ' the place of Tautahi ' . It was adopted as the Māori name for the city in the 1930s. Ōtautahi precisely refers to a specific site by the Avon River / Ōtākaro in Central Christchurch. The site was a seasonal food-gathering place of Ngāi Tahu chief Te Pōtiki Tautahi. A different account claims
6984-511: The site of a terrorist attack targeting two mosques on 15 March 2019. The name Christchurch was adopted at the first meeting of the Canterbury Association on 27 March 1848. The reason it was chosen is not known with certainty, but the most likely reason is it was named after Christ Church, Oxford , the alma mater of many members of the association, including John Robert Godley . Christ Church college had similarities with
7081-470: The sixteenth century, and then were absorbed by Kāi Tahu a century later. Ōtautahi was inhabited seasonally, and a major trading centre was established at Kaiapoi Pā . British colonial settlement began in the mid-nineteenth century. The First Four Ships were chartered by the Canterbury Association and brought the Canterbury Pilgrims from Britain to Lyttelton Harbour in 1850. It became
7178-548: The split from Gondwana, during the period between 80 and 23 million years ago, the land became eroded and subsided below sea level. Marine and terrestrial sediments were deposited, leaving the greywacke as the oldest and deepest layers ( basement rock ). Around 11–6 million years ago, volcanic eruptions created the Banks Peninsula volcanic complex . Over the last two million years as the Southern Alps were rising, there were multiple periods of glaciation . Rivers flowing from
7275-591: The square itself. The square was badly damaged in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake . The square was originally intended to be called Ridley Square, after the Protestant martyr Nicholas Ridley , but in Edward Jollie 's 1850 plan of central Christchurch it was marked as Cathedral Square. Ridley's co-martyrs and colleague bishops, Cranmer and Latimer have Squares named after them, not far distant from Cathedral Square. The original choice of Ridley
7372-516: The time that John Robert Godley arrived in April 1850 all of the funds for public works had been used up in constructing the road. Godley ordered that all work on the road should stop, leaving the steep foot and pack horse track that had been hastily constructed over the hill between the port and the Heathcote valley as the only land-access to the area of Christchurch. This track became known as
7469-427: The weather is the nor'wester , a hot föhn wind that occasionally reaches storm force, causing widespread minor damage to property. Like many cities, Christchurch experiences an urban heat island effect; temperatures are slightly higher within the inner-city regions compared to the surrounding countryside. The highest temperature recorded in Christchurch was 41.6 °C (106.9 °F) on 7 February 1973, however
7566-647: Was $ 40,400, compared with $ 41,500 nationally. 35,010 people (10.7%) earned over $ 100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 163,554 (50.1%) people were employed full-time, 47,463 (14.5%) were part-time, and 8,913 (2.7%) were unemployed. People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 75.9% European ( Pākehā ); 11.2% Māori ; 4.3% Pasifika ; 17.1% Asian ; 1.9% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.2% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English
7663-449: Was 37.5 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 64,722 people (16.5%) aged under 15 years, 84,633 (21.6%) aged 15 to 29, 178,113 (45.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 63,912 (16.3%) aged 65 or older. Of those at least 15 years old, 70,764 (21.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 160,440 (49.1%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 73,659 (22.5%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income
7760-721: Was a crucial factor in the decision of where to place the settlement of Christchurch, as it proved that the swampy ground could be farmed. The Deans brothers named their farm after their former parish in Ayrshire , Scotland; they also named the river near their farm after the Avon Water in South Lanarkshire , which rises in the hills near to where their grandfather's farm was located. The Canterbury Association 's Chief Surveyor, Captain Joseph Thomas , surveyed
7857-421: Was a major Māori settlement named Te Kai-a-Te-Karoro , this was an important food-gathering area to Ngāi Tūāhuriri that had kelp gull presence and mānuka scrub. Te Ihutai (The Avon Heathcote Estuary ) was an important food source for local iwi and hapū , the estuary providing food such as, flounder and shellfish. Kaiapoi Pā was the most important trading area, and the centre of a thriving economy. The pā
7954-482: Was actually a combination of seven or eight different buildings, joined to form a "perplexing maze" with no sprinklers or alarm system. A subsequent Royal commission of enquiry resulted in changes to the building code to improve fire safety. Thousands of mourners, including the Prime Minister, attended a mass funeral in the aftermath. During the 1960s Christchurch experienced urban sprawl , with much of
8051-427: Was changed again by introducing a curve towards the west; the western side of the legal road had a radius of 3 chains 75 links (75 m). The purpose of this change was to allow the placement of the cathedral slightly further west, making its tower visible along Colombo Street from a distance. Up to the point of work starting on the cathedral, here was initially little development. A statue to John Robert Godley ,
8148-601: Was first suspended from the Sydney Harbour Bridge to welcome the 2005 year. The sculpture is made up of 350 reflective pinwheels arranged in a sphere . In 2007 Sydney's Lord Mayor, Clover Moore , presented the sculpture to the Christchurch City Council as a gift. After a long time in storage, it was eventually decided to install Fanfare next to State Highway 1 , just south of the Waimakariri River Bridge to welcome visitors coming to
8245-642: Was found to be insufficient, and Henry Sewell suggested in June 1853 to move the college to land reserved for the Christchurch Botanic Gardens . This transaction was formalised through The Cathedral Square Ordinance 1858 , a law passed by the Canterbury Provincial Council in October 1858. The ordinance allowed for Colombo Street to go straight through the middle of Cathedral Square at a legal width of 1.5 chains (99 ft; 30 m), and
8342-419: Was heavily industrialised in the early 20th century, particularly the suburbs of Woolston and Addington , with Woolston housing a large amount of New Zealand's rubber industry. Many warehouses, factories and large premises of railway workshops were built along the Main South Line . There was notable development of breweries, flour mills , and light-commercial in Christchurch. This significantly increased
8439-704: Was installed in Albert Park behind the Auckland Art Gallery as a commission by the gallery to commemorate its centenary in 1988. 1994 Horizons was commissioned by Alan Gibbs as one of the first large-scale sculptural works that make up Gibbs Farm , the largest sculpture park in the Southern hemisphere. 1998 Ferns was commissioned by the Wellington Sculpture Trust . Dawson cut 11 fern shapes and formed them into
8536-615: Was located at the nexus of the major rivers of Christchurch, the Avon River / Ōtākaro, Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River and the Styx River . It was the likely richest eel fishery in the country at that time. Sugar was produced from plantations of cabbage trees . European settlement of the Canterbury Region was largely influenced by brothers William and John Deans in 1843. The Deans farm located in Riccarton Bush
8633-425: Was more humble and described his artwork as "basically just a ball with some propellers on it". 2014 , Dawson's Spires was installed in Christchurch's Latimer Square . The work was inspired by Dawson's attempts to draw from memory the demolished spire of Christchurch Cathedral . It was initially planned that the sculpture would hover over the centre of Latimer Square, along the axis of Worcester Street, so make
8730-432: Was more-quickly contained. On 15 March 2019, fifty-one people died from two consecutive mass shootings at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre by an Australian white supremacist . Forty others were injured. The attacks have been described by then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as "one of New Zealand's darkest days". Just days after the attacks the live-streamed footage became classified as objectionable by
8827-471: Was open in 1973, one year before the games. On Saturday, 4 September 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Christchurch and the central Canterbury region at 4:35 am. With its hypocentre near Darfield , west of the city at a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 mi), it caused widespread damage to the city and minor injuries, but no direct fatalities. This was followed by the Boxing Day earthquake
8924-493: Was opened in 1964. Television broadcasts began in Christchurch on 1 June 1961 with the launch of channel CHTV3, making Christchurch the second New Zealand city to receive regular television broadcasts. The channel initially broadcast from a 10-kilowatt transmitter atop the Gloucester Street studios until it switched to the newly built 100-kilowatt Sugarloaf transmitter in the Port Hills on 28 August 1965. In 1969,
9021-501: Was originally swampland with patchworks of marshland, grassland, scrub and some patches of tall forest of mostly kahikatea , mataī and tōtara . The inner coastal sand dunes were covered in hardier scrub bush, including akeake , taupata , tūmatakuru , ngaio , carmichaelia , and coprosma . Christchurch was rich in birdlife prior to European colonisation, as they burned down forests and introduced predators, it led to local extinction of native birds. Evidence of human activity in
9118-557: Was spoken by 95.8%, Māori language by 2.4%, Samoan by 1.3% and other languages by 16.8%. No language could be spoken by 2.1% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.6%. The percentage of people born overseas was 27.8, compared with 28.8% nationally. Religious affiliations were 31.6% Christian , 2.1% Hindu , 1.3% Islam , 0.4% Māori religious beliefs , 1.0% Buddhist , 0.5% New Age , 0.1% Jewish , and 2.0% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 54.9%, and 6.3% of people did not answer
9215-479: Was taught by Russ Williams. While in the fourth form , Dawson climbed onto the assembly hall roof and painted April Fool in large white letters. This won him front page exposure in the Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune and he regards this escapade as the "beginning of [his] career in public art." Dawson attended the University of Canterbury (1966–1969) where he studied under Tom Taylor and Eric Doudney. He gained
9312-472: Was the administrative seat of the Province of Canterbury . While slow at first, growth in the town began to accelerate towards the end of the 1850s, with a period of rapid growth between 1857 and 1864. Christchurch became the first city in New Zealand by royal charter on 31 July 1856, and Henry Harper was consecrated by the archbishop of Canterbury as the local Anglican bishop. He arrived in Christchurch
9409-457: Was until 2023 when dawn services returned back to Cathedral Square. New designs for the Square were unveiled in 2017 which would remove the roadways through the square and add green space and waterways and split it into five zones (Post office place, The courtyard, Library plaza, Cathedral gardens and The living room). But the plan lacks funding and the original plans have been shelved. Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre opened in 2021 as one of
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