List of historic places in Christchurch facts for kids

Montage of Christchurch heritage structures: The Press Building, Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Citizens' War Memorial, ChristChurch Cathedral, Canterbury Club Gas Light, Riccarton House, Bridge of Remembrance and buildings on Tuam Street (McKenzie & Willis and A.J. White's Department Store)

This article is about the special old buildings and places in Christchurch, New Zealand. These are places that are officially listed by Heritage New Zealand. This list only includes places within the old Christchurch city boundaries before it joined with the Banks Peninsula District in 2006.

Christchurch's Special Old Buildings

There are two main lists for heritage places in Christchurch. One is the national list kept by Heritage New Zealand. The other is a local list in the Christchurch City Plan. This article focuses only on the national list.

Heritage New Zealand has four types of listings: historic places, historic areas, Wahi Tapu (places important to Māori), and Wahi Tapu areas. Christchurch has many historic places and historic areas. In July 2011, there were 315 historic places and seven historic areas listed. After the big earthquakes, Heritage New Zealand started removing buildings from the list if they had to be pulled down.

When Disasters Strike: Heritage Loss

Some of these special buildings were damaged in the earthquake on 4 September 2010. Only one listed building, Manchester Courts, was pulled down after that first quake.

But things changed a lot after the earthquake on 22 February 2011. Many more listed buildings were badly damaged or completely lost. Some buildings fell down during the earthquake itself. These included the Durham Street Methodist Church, part of the Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings, the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church, and the Sevicke Jones building. Other important buildings were badly hurt, like ChristChurch Cathedral, the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, and Holy Trinity Avonside.

Many heritage buildings have been demolished since then. Some are still waiting to be pulled down, and for others, their future is still unknown. Some famous buildings that were demolished include the Cranmer Centre (which used to be Christchurch Girls' High School) and The Press Building.

Bringing History Back: Heritage Restoration

It wasn't all bad news! Three important statues fell off their stands. These were the Scott Statue, Godley Statue, and Rolleston Statue. The Godley and Rolleston statues were fixed and put back in 2016.

Some very important heritage buildings were badly damaged but their owners promised to repair them. These include the Christchurch Arts Centre and the Excelsior Hotel. The Arts Centre's Registry Building reopened in 2013 after being fully fixed. In 2014, the Isaac Theatre Royal reopened after a huge $40 million restoration. The Mona Vale homestead also reopened in 2016. Many more restored heritage buildings were expected to reopen in 2017. This included the Sign of the Kiwi, the Sign of the Takahe, the gatehouse of Mona Vale, the Edmonds Band Rotunda, the Old Stone House, the former Trinity Church, and Shand's Emporium.

List of Historic Places

Churches and Religious Centres

Category	Name	Address	Notes	Photo
II	Antonio Hall	265 Riccarton Road, Riccarton	Built 1904–1909 as a private home. Damaged in 2011 earthquake, not repaired.
I	Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch	136 Barbadoes Street	Catholic cathedral built 1901–1905. Damaged in 2011 earthquake. Demolition started in 2020.
I	ChristChurch Cathedral	100 Cathedral Square	Anglican Cathedral. Seriously damaged in the February 2011 earthquake, its spire collapsed.
I	Church of St Michael and All Angels, Christchurch	90 Oxford Terrace	An important Anglican church.
I	Durham Street Methodist Church	Durham Street	Completely collapsed during the February 2011 earthquake.
I	Holy Trinity Avonside	122 Avonside Drive, Linwood	Demolished after the February 2011 earthquake.
II	Knox Church	Bealey Avenue	Damaged in the February 2011 earthquake but later repaired.
I	Nurses' Memorial Chapel	2 Riccarton Avenue	Damaged by the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. Fixed in 2018.
II	Oxford Terrace Baptist Church	288 Oxford Terrace	Built 1882. Collapsed during the February 2011 earthquake.
II	Rose Historic Chapel	866 Colombo Street	Built 1910. Badly damaged in the February 2011 earthquake. Fixed in 2018.
I	St Barnabas Church, Christchurch	145 Fendalton Road, Fendalton	Damaged by the February 2011 earthquake. Fixed in 2017.
I	St John the Baptist Church	234 Hereford Street	Damaged in the February 2011 earthquake and later demolished.
I	St Luke's Vicarage	185 Kilmore Street	Built 1867–68. Thought to be the oldest Anglican vicarage in New Zealand still in use.
II	St Paul's Anglican Church	3 Harewood Road, Papanui	Wooden church built 1877. Damaged in 2011 earthquake, but later restored.
I	St Paul's Church, Christchurch	236 Cashel Street	Presbyterian church built 1877. Damaged by fire in 2009 and earthquakes in 2010/2011. Demolished by June 2011.
II	St Peter's Church, Riccarton	24 Main South Road, Upper Riccarton	Anglican church built 1875.
II	St Saviour's Chapel	17 Winchester Street, Lyttelton	Built 1886 in Lyttelton, moved to Christchurch in 1975, then moved back to Lyttelton in 2013.
I	Trinity Congregational Church	124 Worcester Street	A beautiful old church building.

Monuments and Memorials

Category	Name	Address	Notes	Photo
I	Bridge of Remembrance	Cashel Street at Avon River	Bridge built 1873. Memorial arch added 1923. Repaired after the 2011 earthquake and reopened in 2016.
I	Citizens' War Memorial	Cathedral Square	A memorial for soldiers.
II	Edmonds' Clock Tower	Chester Street East	A well-known clock tower.
I	Godley Statue	Cathedral Square	A statue of John Robert Godley, who helped found Canterbury.
II	Scott Statue	153 Worcester Street	A statue of the famous Antarctic explorer.
I	Victoria Clock Tower	Victoria Street	A tall clock tower.

Current and Former Homes

Category	Name	Address	Notes	Photo
II	Curator's House	Botanical Gardens, Rolleston Avenue	The house where the gardens' curator used to live.
I	Deans Cottage	Riccarton Bush, 12 Kahu Road, Riccarton	A very old cottage in Riccarton Bush.
I	Dorset Street Flats	2–16 Dorset Street	Historic apartment buildings.
I	Kate Sheppard House	83 Clyde Road, Ilam	The home of Kate Sheppard, a famous leader for women's voting rights.
II	Librarian's House	109 Cambridge Terrace	The house where the city librarian lived.
II	Linwood House	30 Linwood Avenue, Linwood	An old house in Linwood.
I	McLean's Mansion	387 Manchester Street	A very large and grand old house.
I	Mona Vale	63 Fendalton Road, Riccarton	A beautiful historic homestead with gardens.
I	Ngaio Marsh House	37 Valley Road, Cashmere	The home of famous crime writer Ngaio Marsh.
II	Old Stone House	30 Shalamar Drive, Cashmere	An old house built from stone.
I	Riccarton House	12 Kahu Road, Riccarton	A large historic house, part of Riccarton Bush.
I	Shand's Emporium	88 Hereford Street	An old shop building.
II	St Elmo Courts	47 Hereford Street	An old apartment building.
II	Wharetiki House	854 Colombo Street	A historic house.

Other Important Buildings

Category	Name	Address	Notes	Photo
I	Addington Water Tower	Clarence Street, Addington	A tall water tower from the old railway workshops.
I	Antigua Boat Sheds	2 Cambridge Terrace	Historic boat sheds on the Avon River.
II	Bandsmen's Memorial Rotunda	Botanical Gardens, Riccarton Avenue	A rotunda (round bandstand) in the Botanic Gardens.
II	Canterbury Club	129 Cambridge Terrace	A historic club building.
I	Canterbury Museum	15 Rolleston Avenue	The main museum building.
I	Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings	280–284 Durham Street	Very important old government buildings.
I	Chief Post Office, Christchurch	15 Cathedral Square	The old main post office building.
I	Christchurch Arts Centre	Worcester Boulevard, Hereford Street and Rolleston Avenue	A large group of historic university buildings, now an arts centre.
I	Christchurch Boys' High School (main block)	39 Kahu Road, Riccarton	The main building of the old Boys' High School.
I	Christchurch Club	154 Worcester Street	Another historic club building.
I	Christ's College Big School	33 Rolleston Avenue	A main building at Christ's College.
I	Christ's College Chapel	33 Rolleston Avenue	The chapel at Christ's College.
II	Clarendon Hotel Façade	78 Worcester Street	The front part of the old Clarendon Hotel.
I	Cranmer Centre	40 Armagh Street	Used to be Christchurch Girls' High School. Demolished in 2012.
II	Dux de Lux	Montreal Street	An old private home that became a popular restaurant and bar.
II	Edmonds Band Rotunda	230 Cambridge Terrace	Built 1929. Damaged by earthquakes. The dome was saved, but the rest was demolished.
I	Excelsior Hotel, Christchurch	120 Manchester Street	A historic hotel building.
I	Guthrey Centre	124–126 Cashel Street	A shopping centre building.
I	Lyttelton Rail Tunnel	Lyttelton Line, Heathcote Valley	The historic railway tunnel connecting Christchurch to Lyttelton.
I	Lyttelton Times Building	56 Cathedral Square	The building of an old newspaper.
I	Magistrates Court (Christchurch)	85 Armagh Street	The old courthouse building.
I	Manchester Courts	158–160 Manchester Street	A large building that was demolished after the earthquakes.
II	McKenzie & Willis Store	181 High Street	A historic department store building.
I	New Regent Street Terrace Shops	New Regent Street	A famous street with colourful shops.
I	NZ Trust and Loan Building	84 Hereford Street	An old office building.
I	Old Government Building, Christchurch	28 Cathedral Square	A grand building that used to house government offices.
II	Perry's Occidental Hotel	208 Hereford Street	A historic hotel.
I	The Press Building, Christchurch	32 Cathedral Square	The building of The Press newspaper.
I	Regent Theatre, Christchurch	39 Cathedral Square	A former theatre building.
I	Registry Building	40 Worcester Boulevard	Part of the Arts Centre, now restored.
I	Robert McDougall Art Gallery	9 Rolleston Avenue	The old art gallery building.
II	Sevicke Jones Building	53 Cathedral Square	A building that collapsed in the 2011 earthquake.
I	Sign of the Kiwi	Dyers Pass, Cashmere	A historic tearooms building on the Port Hills.
I	Sign of the Takahe	176 Hackthorne Road, Cashmere	A grand stone building on the Port Hills.
I	Strange's Building	219–223 High Street	A historic commercial building.
I	Theatre Royal, Christchurch	145 Gloucester Street	A beautiful old theatre.
II	Worcester Chambers	69 Worcester Street	An old office building.

List of Lost Historic Places

These buildings were once listed as heritage places but have been lost, mostly because of the Christchurch earthquakes.

Category	Name	Address	Suburb	Photo
II	A & T Burt Building (former Nugget Boot Polish Factory)	580 Ferry Road	Woolston
I	A.J. White's Department Store (Former)	236 Tuam Street	Christchurch Central City
II	ANZ Bank, Christchurch	188 High Street	Christchurch Central City
II	Avon Theatre	86–88 Worcester Street	Christchurch Central City
II	Canterbury Television Building	202 Gloucester Street	Christchurch Central City
II	Carlton Hotel	21 Bealey Avenue	Merivale
II	Christchurch Railway Station (former)	386–392 Moorhouse Avenue	Christchurch Central City
II	The Civic	194–198 Manchester Street	Christchurch Central City
II	Coachman Inn	144 Gloucester Street	Christchurch Central City
II	Sydenham Heritage Church	343 Colombo Street	Sydenham
II	Sydenham Post Office	340 Colombo Street	Sydenham
II	Twentymen & Cousins Store	93 Cashel Street	Christchurch Central City
II	Warner's Hotel	50 Cathedral Square	Christchurch Central City

List of Historic Areas

These are larger areas that are protected because of their history and special character.

Name	Location	Suburb	Photo
Cashmere Drains Historic Area	Cashmere Stream, Cashmere Valley Drain and Ballintine's Drain	Cashmere
Church of St Mary the Virgin Historic Area	Church Square	Addington
Englefield Historic Area	Avon River & Avonside, Fitzgerald, Hamner & Elm	Linwood
Godley Head Battery Historic Area	Godley Head	Sumner
New Regent Street Historic Area	New Regent Street	Christchurch Central City
Park Terrace Historic Area	Park Terrace	Christchurch Central City
Wards Brewery Historic Area	Fitzgerald Ave, Kilmore Street, Chester Street East	Christchurch Central City

See also

• 2010 Canterbury earthquake
• 2011 Christchurch earthquake
• June 2011 Christchurch earthquake