Pre-Colonization History of the Christchurch Area
This piece outlines the history of Christchurch’s key wetlands and their connection to the people. From the early Māori tribes to European colonials, the city of Christchurch has been moulded both physically and culturally by its wetlands. Today this culminates in a modern industrialised city on the Canterbury Plains.
Christchurch occupies the edge of a fluvial fan that extends down from the Southern Alps to the Banks Peninsula. The peninsula was erupted out of the greywacke sandstone and mudstone when the volcanic activity began 15 million years ago, continuing to 5.8 million years ago. The fluvial fan that extends out to the peninsula was built 2 million years ago during periods of glaciation. The glaciation process ground up the greywacke into gravels that flowed down the glaciers and braided rivers, such as the Waimakariri and Rakaia. The wide gravel fans merged to form the base of the Canterbury Plains. During this period of glaciation, the coast extended 50-60 kilometres east and the sea level was up 150 meters lower than it is presently. This created a dynamic environment that is linked very heavily with the water cycle and coastal processes. This environment led to the rivers and coastline to be ever-changing. The nature of this ever-changing fluvial gravel fans led to many small lakes and rivers culminating near the coast as the fans began to level out into the sea. The Christchurch area became divided between wet and dry plains shown in the “Black Maps” survey in 1856.
Christchurch occupies the edge of a fluvial fan that extends down from the Southern Alps to the Banks Peninsula. The peninsula was erupted out of the greywacke sandstone and mudstone when the volcanic activity began 15 million years ago, continuing to 5.8 million years ago. The fluvial fan that extends out to the peninsula was built 2 million years ago during periods of glaciation. The glaciation process ground up the greywacke into gravels that flowed down the glaciers and braided rivers, such as the Waimakariri and Rakaia. The wide gravel fans merged to form the base of the Canterbury Plains. During this period of glaciation, the coast extended 50-60 kilometres east and the sea level was up 150 meters lower than it is presently. This created a dynamic environment that is linked very heavily with the water cycle and coastal processes. This environment led to the rivers and coastline to be ever-changing. The nature of this ever-changing fluvial gravel fans led to many small lakes and rivers culminating near the coast as the fans began to level out into the sea. The Christchurch area became divided between wet and dry plains shown in the “Black Maps” survey in 1856.
Christchurch: History around a River
Archaeological evidence shows massive deforestation by a fire during the fourteenth century. Small parts of the forests survived at Papanui and Putaringamotu (Deans Bush). This was first thought to be lightning strikes during the dry summer months, but now archaeologists attribute them to humans. They coincide with the earliest archaeological evidence of human settlement. Polynesian migration to the South Island began with the Waitaha people. When these first Māori arrived, the Christchurch area was rich with mahinga kai, mahinga kai refers to resources and the sites where they were gathered. Between 6-700 years ago Waitaha occupied the South Island. This is confirmed by archaeological evidence, but Māori genealogies lead archaeologists to believe Waitaha had been in Canterbury earlier. They were supplanted and absorbed by Ngati Mamoe. Ngati Mamoe migrated south from the North Island in the sixteenth century. They were in turn supplanted and absorbed by Ngai Tahu in the eighteenth century, after a series of wars when Ngai Tahu first arrived in the South Island in the seventeenth century. Ngai Tahu would control the South Island until European settlers began arriving in the mid-1800s after the forming of the Canterbury Association in 1848.
Before official European settlement of the South Island began contacts between Māori and Europeans were restricted to interactions between missionaries, whalers and sealers. These interactions were devastating to local Māori. The meetings between the two cultures allowed weapons and diseases to spread amongst the Māori population. This culminated in the ‘Musket Wars’ of the 1820s which forced many tribes to migrate. Ngai Tahu in Canterbury were devastated by events. The smallpox, measles and influenza would only increase the casualties amongst Ngai Tahu. By 1840 when Europeans began establishing settler communities in Christchurch, it is believed that Ngai Tahu’s population barely exceeded 1000 after these conflicts.
Before European settlement could officially begin the land would need to be bought from Ngai Tahu. The land that Christchurch now occupies was purchased in 1848. Commissioner Henry Kemp was sent to the South Island by Governor George Grey to purchase as much land as he could for the Canterbury settlement. Because of the very few Māori occupying Canterbury at the time it was believed the land could be purchased for very little. Negotiations were shaky at best, with Ngai Tahu fully understanding how valuable their land was. Hone Taaro Tikao, a prominent Ngai Tahu leader, refused to sign what would become known as the Kemp Deed. He showed his unhappiness for the price offered. Claiming a figure of £5 million was a fair price, but Kemp had only been authorised to give £2000, in four installments. Because there were enough other signatures, Kemp claimed the purchase was successful. Kemp assured Ngai Tahu that they could keep their accustomed villages and gardens, but did not specify these areas. Later in 1848, Walter Mantell was sent to complete the purchase. Failing to understand the more nomadic lifestyle of Ngai Tahu, and the deliberate underestimating of their populations, Ngai Tahu lost much of their mahinga kai sites and cultivated land. Some of the promised reserves never materialised. Ngai Tahu protested this to the Crown as a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi. These protests were ignored, and soon Canterbury was swamped by British settlers.
In 1840, 500 Europeans lived in Canterbury. The first of these migrants were two small groups of farmers from Australia, led by James Herriot. After a successful season, they abandoned their farms when hordes of native rats ate the majority of the produce. The next settlers were two Scottish Farmers, William and John Deans. Liking the look of the flat Canterbury plain compared to the land in Wellington and Nelson they had been allocated, they returned with their families in February 1843. They sailed up the Avon to the present site of Barbadoes Street Bridge, which would come to be known as the Bricks. The city became an official settlement in 1850 when four ships of the Canterbury Association arrived carrying 950 settlers. Settlers would cross a new track named Bridle Path over from Lyttleton. Soon more ships would arrive bringing fresh batches of settlers. By 1875 Christchurch had a population of over 10,000.
It is from here Christchurch City began to take its shape. It was designed around the idea of a central square surrounded by four complementing squares with a grid plan for the streets. With the Avon River working its way from the South-West to North-East through the city centre the four surrounding squares were dropped to two. Christchurch was the fourth city to use this pattern. The settlers would slowly dredge, drain or cement into tunnels beneath the streets the wetlands that Maori relied so heavily upon.
Before official European settlement of the South Island began contacts between Māori and Europeans were restricted to interactions between missionaries, whalers and sealers. These interactions were devastating to local Māori. The meetings between the two cultures allowed weapons and diseases to spread amongst the Māori population. This culminated in the ‘Musket Wars’ of the 1820s which forced many tribes to migrate. Ngai Tahu in Canterbury were devastated by events. The smallpox, measles and influenza would only increase the casualties amongst Ngai Tahu. By 1840 when Europeans began establishing settler communities in Christchurch, it is believed that Ngai Tahu’s population barely exceeded 1000 after these conflicts.
Before European settlement could officially begin the land would need to be bought from Ngai Tahu. The land that Christchurch now occupies was purchased in 1848. Commissioner Henry Kemp was sent to the South Island by Governor George Grey to purchase as much land as he could for the Canterbury settlement. Because of the very few Māori occupying Canterbury at the time it was believed the land could be purchased for very little. Negotiations were shaky at best, with Ngai Tahu fully understanding how valuable their land was. Hone Taaro Tikao, a prominent Ngai Tahu leader, refused to sign what would become known as the Kemp Deed. He showed his unhappiness for the price offered. Claiming a figure of £5 million was a fair price, but Kemp had only been authorised to give £2000, in four installments. Because there were enough other signatures, Kemp claimed the purchase was successful. Kemp assured Ngai Tahu that they could keep their accustomed villages and gardens, but did not specify these areas. Later in 1848, Walter Mantell was sent to complete the purchase. Failing to understand the more nomadic lifestyle of Ngai Tahu, and the deliberate underestimating of their populations, Ngai Tahu lost much of their mahinga kai sites and cultivated land. Some of the promised reserves never materialised. Ngai Tahu protested this to the Crown as a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi. These protests were ignored, and soon Canterbury was swamped by British settlers.
In 1840, 500 Europeans lived in Canterbury. The first of these migrants were two small groups of farmers from Australia, led by James Herriot. After a successful season, they abandoned their farms when hordes of native rats ate the majority of the produce. The next settlers were two Scottish Farmers, William and John Deans. Liking the look of the flat Canterbury plain compared to the land in Wellington and Nelson they had been allocated, they returned with their families in February 1843. They sailed up the Avon to the present site of Barbadoes Street Bridge, which would come to be known as the Bricks. The city became an official settlement in 1850 when four ships of the Canterbury Association arrived carrying 950 settlers. Settlers would cross a new track named Bridle Path over from Lyttleton. Soon more ships would arrive bringing fresh batches of settlers. By 1875 Christchurch had a population of over 10,000.
It is from here Christchurch City began to take its shape. It was designed around the idea of a central square surrounded by four complementing squares with a grid plan for the streets. With the Avon River working its way from the South-West to North-East through the city centre the four surrounding squares were dropped to two. Christchurch was the fourth city to use this pattern. The settlers would slowly dredge, drain or cement into tunnels beneath the streets the wetlands that Maori relied so heavily upon.
Location 1
Puari PaWaitaha built a Pā at Puari early in their settlement of Canterbury. It streched from the banks of the Avon/Otakaro River out to where modern-day Bealey Avenue sits. The loop of the river that extends around to Manchester Street Bridge was a vital mahinga kai site and settlement. Archaeological evidence and Māori whakapapa (genealogies), confirmed the settlement of Puari Pa from the 10th Century. At its height, the pa would have housed upwards of 800 people. Waitaha had other settlements around what would become Christchurch. Raekura in Redcliffs, Omokihi near Wigram. Waitaha would travel between the settlements depending on the season to collect particular foods. Whare (home) were built traditionally out of flax, raupo and native timbers as shelters for these expeditions. Putangitangi (Paradise Shelduck), Parera (Grey Duck) were gathered from the low-lying wetlands during the moulting season along with forest birds at Deans Bush and Papanui Bush. Later, when Ngai Tahu occupied the region, Puari Pa was still used as an essential resource centre but was not permanently settled. As European settlers began to arrive in Christchurch Puari Pa became Market Square. This became an important market for Ngai Tahu to trade with the settlers. Ngai Tuahuriri made journeys from Kaiapoi to trade potatoes and other resources with the early settlers.
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Victoria (Market) SquareAs Christchurch grew into a European city, Puari Pa would become Market Square. Following on from English cathedral city heritage, Christchurch, the seat of a bishop would under the natural assumption, have its own market like those in the great cities of Europe. Christchurch’s first market was on the 21st of May 1853. Market square became an essential place for settlers to exchange goods such as livestock, wool and produce. The area around the square became the commercial hub of the early central city.
Alongside the markets, other key buildings such as the Post Office, Immigration Barracks and Police Station were located. This was due to the essential route down Victoria Street from Papanui Bush. An important resource of timber and firewood for the early settlers. Traffic increased over Victoria Street Bridge to 1500 people a day. This increase was so significant that the present bridge was built in 1864. Market Square would then become Victoria Square in 1897 after being cleared and developed into a park in recognition of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Now Victoria Square the site would go under radical development between 1972 and 1989. Victoria Street before this development would traverse the square and the Avon River with Victoria Street Bridge, a road and footbridge. However, this radical redesign would remove the South-East junction with Kilmore and Durham Street. It allowed for the road itself to be removed and replaced with a park. With the Park Royal Hotel being built on the corner of Kilmore and Durham Street, later renamed the Crown Plaza. The new town hall built on the Northside of the park had been finished in 1972, and it was now the turn of the old Supreme Court which was demolished and rebuilt. Victoria Street Bridge one of the earliest iron and stone bridges in the country, and would be renamed in 1989 to the Hamish Hay Bridge. After the 2011 earthquakes, Victoria Park was damaged by liquefaction. This resulted in the Crown Plaza being demolished, completely changing the cityscape of the square. |
Location 2
OtautahiAfter disposing of Ngati Mamoe through alliances and inter-tribal marriages, Te Potiki Tautahi built his pa on the banks of the Avon/Otakaro 300 years ago. Similar to Puari Pa, it was an important source for mahinga kai. It was located on the banks near Kilmore Street Fire Station extending north across the loop in the river. Tautahi would make frequent visits from Port Levy to gather resources. According to the seasons they would catch eels in the river and snare birds in harakeke on the banks. Tautahi would die on one of these visits and was buried in the associated urupa where St Luke’s Church is today. Ōtautahi Pa was still visible in the 1860s during early European settlement, with springs bubbling up through large cones of sand. The associated urupa was discovered in 1865 during excavations for St Luke’s Church. The area would become known as Te Whenua o Te Potiki-Tautahi, this was later shortened to Ō Te Potiki Tautahi and then shortened further to the name we have today, Ōtautahi. The name Ōtautahi means the ‘place of tautahi’, and it was adopted as the official Māori name for Christchurch in the 1930s, despite the name only corresponding to the specific area of the river.
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The BricksWhen the Scottish farmers William and John Deans along with the Gebbie and Manson families as their farm labourers sailed up the Avon River, they became weighed down by their belongings. The whaleboats they were using had run aground in the shallower part of the Avon by the present Barbados Street Bridge. They decided to leave the bricks they brought on the shore. The bricks were for the chimneys of what would become Riccarton House. The site would become known as ‘The Bricks’ in 1843. The continued to travel up the Avon as now their whaling ships had refloated.
Later in 1851, the Bricks would become the first settlement on the plains. The surveyor Edward Jollie lived alongside his assistants. George Durey, John Anderson and Daniel Inwood would assist Edward Jollie in surveying Christchurch after Messrs Cooper and Levy and Messrs Abercrombie and Co., trading firms from Sydney began looking for the possible site for a Church of England Colony. A wharf was built in 1851 as a drop off for goods, resulting in people being drawn into the area. Goods were for sale here, and that only attracted more people to the area as a stop-off point before venturing further up the Avon River. |
Locations of Note
Bridge of Remembrance
The Bridge of Remembrance began its life as a small road bridge on Cashel Street. In June 1893 it was shaken by a frightened horse that came loose from its harness. The bridge had survived the shaking, but by 1914 the bridge was obsolete and dangerous, with the City Council deciding to replace it. However, when the First World War broke out, all plans for reconstruction were suspended. Proposed in 1919 considerations were drawn up for a permanent peace memorial for those who fought and died during the First World War. Many ideas were brought forward, but the Bridge of Remembrance would be chosen in September of 1921 after 24 designs had been submitted.
The bridge opened on Armistice Day, 11 November 1924, after having the foundation stone laid on ANZAC Day, 25 April 1923. The bridge serves as a memorial to servicemen and women of the two World Wars and other localised conflicts. The bridge was damaged in the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake. Repair work was started in May of 2013 and finished in September of 2015. With the rebirthing of the central city, the bridge has begun to see the traffic it once saw before the earthquakes.
The bridge opened on Armistice Day, 11 November 1924, after having the foundation stone laid on ANZAC Day, 25 April 1923. The bridge serves as a memorial to servicemen and women of the two World Wars and other localised conflicts. The bridge was damaged in the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake. Repair work was started in May of 2013 and finished in September of 2015. With the rebirthing of the central city, the bridge has begun to see the traffic it once saw before the earthquakes.
Antigua Boat Sheds
The Antigua Boat Sheds have been part of the Avon landscape for 130 years. Built-in 1882 by two boat builders from Lyttleton, Messrs Albert Shaw and J.T. Tidd. Messrs Shaw would take sole ownership of the boat sheds when the partnership with Tidd dissolved. Only to be taken over a decade later in 1896 by Samuel Anstey of Fendalton. The boatsheds housed upwards of 70 rowboats and canoes. Parties could use them to journey up the river through the botanical gardens.
In 1907 the Boat Sheds were set alight early in the morning, damaging half the boats and the eastern end of the sheds. It was thought that the fire had originated from a stove above which was the timber for making boats was steamed. Just down the river beneath the Monreal Street Bridge were another set of Boat Sheds that had been built in 1875. They were destroyed after two arsonists set them alight in 1929. In 1948 ownership changed hands to W.S. Dini, who held ownership until 1978 when Maurice and Diane Philipps bought the Boat Sheds — passing the ownership onto their daughter Sally and her husband Mike Jones. They continue to run the business today. The Antigua Boat Sheds have been a staple of the Avon River landscape for almost as long as the city has existed. They provide an alternative way to view the city from the river. Kayak, canoe, rowboats or its famous punting down the Avon. Bike hire is now also available, along with the Boat Shed Cafe.
In 1907 the Boat Sheds were set alight early in the morning, damaging half the boats and the eastern end of the sheds. It was thought that the fire had originated from a stove above which was the timber for making boats was steamed. Just down the river beneath the Monreal Street Bridge were another set of Boat Sheds that had been built in 1875. They were destroyed after two arsonists set them alight in 1929. In 1948 ownership changed hands to W.S. Dini, who held ownership until 1978 when Maurice and Diane Philipps bought the Boat Sheds — passing the ownership onto their daughter Sally and her husband Mike Jones. They continue to run the business today. The Antigua Boat Sheds have been a staple of the Avon River landscape for almost as long as the city has existed. They provide an alternative way to view the city from the river. Kayak, canoe, rowboats or its famous punting down the Avon. Bike hire is now also available, along with the Boat Shed Cafe.
Locations for the Adventurous
Avon- Heathcote Estuary
The Avon-Heathcote Estuary/Ihutai is the largest semi-enclosed shallow estuary in Canterbury and is one of New Zealand’s most important coastal wetlands. An important habitat for flora and fauna including migratory birds, as well as having cultural significance for both Māori and Europeans. The estuary covers 8 square kilometres and was an important source of mahinga kai for Māori and when Europeans first arrived in was the entrance used by boat to access the Avon/Otakaro River and Christchurch City. Today it is still an important habitat and now is used recreationally by Cantabrians.
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Travis Wetland
The Travis Wetland is the largest freshwater wetland in Christchurch. The land was used for grazing cattle until 1996 when the Christchurch City Council bought the land after the Travis Wetland Trust lobbied for a nature heritage park. The 56 hectares is home to a vast majority of native wildlife and migratory birds. Six hundred species with 83% of those being endemic to New Zealand have been counted at the site. Travis Wetland has a very active volunteer program that organises working bee events and community plantings.
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The Groynes
The Groynes is a rustic park featuring walking trails, dogs’ parks, picnic spots, fishing areas and playgrounds. The location is known as a vibrant place for family gatherings, and with several BBQ areas and activities, there is always something to do. There are permanent orienteering courses for the public can enjoy. The park is home to a vast number of aquatic flora and fauna that create a picturesque backdrop for the park.
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Horseshoe Lake
Horseshoe Lake as the name suggests is a narrow curving lake with a complementing trail through the wetland. The site of a Ngai Tahu Pa, Te Oranga in the eighteenth century as an important kaika (settlement) within the Christchurch area. An important mahinga kai location for Ngai Tahu when they first disposed and absorbed Ngati Mamoe.
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Brooklands
Heathcote River
The Heathcote River resides south of the city meandering around the base of the Port Hills. The river was home to two kaika’s, Omokihi and Opawaho. It is fed from springs in Templeton the river exits into the Avon/Heathcote Estuary/Ihutai. The river was a significant mahinga kai source, and seasonal trips were made to gather important food resources and building materials.
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Lower Avon (Otakaro)
After the 2011 earthquake vast areas of the lower Avon River and the surrounding suburbs were significantly damaged by liquefaction, the areas regeneration plan was approved in August of 2019. The Otakaro Avon River Corridor Regeneration Plan is a bold vision for the future of the corridor. The plan emphasises a restore natural environment, along with a strengthened connection between the people, the river and the land.
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