 Worcester Boulevard looking towards the Canterbury Museum, April 2019 | |||
| Length | 4.3 km (2.7 mi) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Christchurch, New Zealand | ||
| West end | Rolleston Avenue | ||
| East end | Woodham Road, Linwood | ||
Worcester Street is a road in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It runs from the intersection of Rolleston Avenue in the west, and terminates in the east at the intersection of Woodham Road in Linwood. Between Rolleston Avenue and Cambridge Terrace, it is known as Worcester Boulevard.
Worcester St runs for roughly 4.3 kilometres (2.7 mi) from west to east through the centre of Christchurch, and is parallel and one block to the south of Gloucester Street. Between Rolleston Avenue and Cambridge Terrace, it is known as Worcester Boulevard, before crossing over the Avon River (pictured). As the street reaches Cathedral Square it has a slight deviation as it curves around the north side of the ChristChurch Cathedral, before continuing eastward towards Latimer Square. Afterwards, the street continues uninterrupted before ending at the intersection with Woodham Road in residential Linwood.
In the 1890s, it was still common for cattle and pigs to graze on vegetation (such as gorse) that were growing in fields and footpaths in the area. As such, gorse fires were a recurring event. In 1896, a particularly large gorse fire occurred, having parts of Worcester Street, as well as Gloucester and Armagh Streets well ablaze. [1]
As one of the older streets in Central Christchurch, many historic buildings of regional and national importance are located here. The most notable of which is the Arts Centre. It is of Gothic Revival and was the former Canterbury College (now the University of Canterbury), Christchurch Boys' High School and Christchurch Girls' High School buildings, many of which were designed by Benjamin Mountfort. The centre is a national landmark and taonga as it is home to New Zealand's largest collection of category one heritage buildings with 21 of the 23 buildings covered by Heritage New Zealand listings. [2] [3]
Canterbury Club, (founded in 1872) has its premises on Worcester Boulevard. The building was commissioned and for William Armson to design a building, but he fell ill and in early 1873 the commission was passed to Frederick Strouts instead. The building was strengthened in 2008–09 and this work was the reason that the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes caused only moderate damage. After earthquake repairs had been done, the premises reopened on 8 June 2012. [4]
Our City, formerly known as the Old Municipal Chambers is a Category I heritage building registered with Heritage New Zealand. [5] Construction was started in 1886 and finished in 1887, and is built in the Queen Anne style. It was damaged in the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, with bracing erected around the building. As of August 2022, it still remains off-reach to the public. It is planned to be restored, but costs of restoration exceed the amount insured for the building. [6]
The Old Government Building was designed by Joseph Maddison in 1909 and opened in 1913. From there, it housed various Government departments for more than seventy years. It is designed in the style of an Italian High Renaissance palazzo. [7]
The section that is now Worcester Boulevard was redeveloped and opened in February 1995. It was redeveloped in three stages, with the addition of planting, repaving, special lighting, restrictions on traffic and the addition of an historic electric tram line, forming part of the heritage Christchurch tramway system. [8]
Buildings and historic building façades located in Worcester St suffered damage and even collapse in both earthquakes. After the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, much of Worcester Street was included in the Central City Red Zone, an area of a public exclusion zone.
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / Ōtākaro flows through the centre of the city, with an urban park along its banks. The city's territorial authority population is 392,100 people, and includes a number of smaller urban areas as well as rural areas. The population of the urban area is 380,600 people. Christchurch is the second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand, after Auckland. It is the major urban area of an emerging sub-region known informally as Greater Christchurch. Notable smaller urban areas within this sub-region include Rangiora and Kaiapoi in Waimakariri District, north of the Waimakariri River, and Rolleston and Lincoln in Selwyn District to the south.
TheArts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora is a hub for arts, culture, education, creativity and entrepreneurship in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located in the Gothic Revival former Canterbury College, Christchurch Boys' High School and Christchurch Girls' High School buildings, many of which were designed by Benjamin Mountfort. The centre is a national landmark and taonga as it is home to New Zealand's largest collection of category one heritage buildings with 21 of the 23 buildings covered by Heritage New Zealand listings.
Rolleston is the seat and largest town in the Selwyn District, in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It is located on the Canterbury Plains 22 kilometres (14 mi) south-west of Christchurch, and is considered a satellite town of the city. The town has a population of 24,700, making it New Zealand's 26th-largest urban area and the third-largest in Canterbury. It was nicknamed the "Town of the Future" in the 1970s by Prime Minister Norman Kirk. The "Town of the Future" signage has since been removed from the entrances to Rolleston.
Linwood is an inner suburb of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It lies to the east of the city centre, mostly between Ferry Road and Linwood Avenue, two of the major arterial roads to the eastern suburbs of Christchurch.
Christchurch railway station is in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It is on the Main North Line at Addington junction, and is the only remaining passenger railway station in the city: suburban passenger trains were cancelled due to lack of demand in the 1970s. It is the terminus of the South Island's one remaining long-distance passenger train, the TranzAlpine.
Christchurch Central City or Christchurch City Centre is the geographical centre and the heart of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is defined as the area within the Four Avenues and thus includes the densely built up central city, some less dense surrounding areas of residential, educational and industrial usage, and green space including Hagley Park, the Christchurch Botanic Gardens and the Barbadoes Street Cemetery.
Colombo Street is a main road of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It runs south-north through the centre of Christchurch with a break at Cathedral Square. As with many other central Christchurch streets, it is named for a colonial Anglican bishopric, Colombo, Sri Lanka in what at the time was known as Ceylon. Parts of the street which run through Sydenham were known as Addison Street during the 1880s, and some parts were known as Colombo Road.
The Rolleston Statue is a white marble statue situated outside Canterbury Museum on Rolleston Avenue in Christchurch, New Zealand. It commemorates William Rolleston, who was Superintendent of the Canterbury Province from 1868 until 1877.
The Cranmer Centre was a historic building in Christchurch, New Zealand. Its original use, until 1986, was as the Christchurch Girls' High School, the second high school for girls in the country. Registered with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I heritage building, it was purchased by Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust in 2001, and demolished in May 2011 following the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
The Dux de Lux, originally called Llanmaes, was a popular beer garden and restaurant in Christchurch, New Zealand, that was part of the Arts Centre.
Linwood House was built as the homestead for Joseph Brittan, who, as surgeon, newspaper editor and provincial councillor, was one of the dominant figures in early Christchurch, New Zealand. The suburb of Linwood was named after Brittan's farm and homestead. Brittan's daughter Mary married William Rolleston, and they lived at Linwood House following Joseph Brittan's death. During that time, Rolleston was the 4th Superintendent of the Canterbury Province, and Linwood House served for many important political and public functions.
City Mall is the main pedestrian mall in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand, comprising two sections of Cashel Street plus the Bridge of Remembrance and one section of High Street. It is also known as Cashel Mall. The Bridge of Remembrance was pedestrianised in 1976. The main mall was closed to traffic on 11 January 1982 and formally reopened as a pedestrian mall on 7 August, but it was not until 1992 that the entire mall was paved. The mall was redeveloped between 2006 and 2009, and track was installed for an expansion of the heritage tram network.
The Octagon, Christchurch, the former Trinity Church or Trinity Congregational Church designed by Benjamin Mountfort, later called the State Trinity Centre, is a Category I heritage building listed with Heritage New Zealand. Damaged in the 2010 Canterbury earthquake and red-stickered after the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the building was threatened with demolition like most other central city heritage buildings. In June 2012, it was announced that the building will be saved, repaired and earthquake strengthened.
New Regent Street is a pedestrian mall in Christchurch. Built as a private development in the early 1930s with 40 shops in Spanish Mission architectural style, it is one of the city's major tourist attractions. Providing a number of small shops as a comprehensive development was an advanced idea at the time, and New Regent Street is regarded as a forerunner to modern shopping malls. Due to its coherent architectural character, the buildings in the streets are listed as Category I heritage items by Heritage New Zealand, and in addition, the entire street has a historic area listing. The street was pedestrianised in 1994 in preparation for the introduction of the Christchurch heritage tram, which began operation in February 1995. Damaged in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the street and buildings reopened in April 2013, and the tram returned from November of that year. Following the 2016 Valentine's Day earthquake, five of the buildings that had not been repaired after the previous earthquakes have been cordoned off, which stopped the tram from operating on its original heritage loop until May.
Latimer Square is an urban park in central Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located 400 metres (440 yd) east of the city's centre, Cathedral Square. Many commemorative events take place in Latimer Square. The square lies between the major urban thoroughfares of Gloucester Street and Worcester Street. Madras Street runs north and south to Latimer Square. The square is grassed and crossed by concrete paths and edged by mature trees. It covers an area of a little over 1.8 hectares.
The Four Avenues are a group of four major arterial boulevards — Bealey Avenue, Fitzgerald Avenue, Moorhouse Avenue, and either Rolleston Ave or Deans Avenue — that surround the city centre of Christchurch, New Zealand. Serving as an inner ring road, they popularly form the limits of the city centre, separating it from the city's suburbs. Almost all of the city's commercial heart lies within the approximately rectangular 9.8-square-kilometre (3.8 sq mi) area formed by the four avenues. The term "within the Four Avenues" is widely used in Christchurch to refer to the central city. By extension, Christchurch as a whole is sometimes referred to as "The Four Avenues".
Gloucester Street is a major urban street in central Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. It runs for approximately 4.9 kilometres (3.0 mi) from a junction with Rolleston Avenue, directly opposite Christ's College at its western end to the suburbs of Linwood and Avonside in the east. For the majority of its length it runs due west-east, with the section from the central city's eastern edge to Linwood veering to the northeast.