Canterbury Club Hitching Post
129 Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch
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Canterbury Club Hitching Post.
Copyright: NZ Historic Places Trust. Taken By: Melanie Lovell-Smith. Date: 1/12/2001.
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Hitching Post.
Copyright: NZ Historic Places Trust. Taken By: P Wilson. Date: 1/01/2004.
List Entry Information
List Entry Status
Listed
List Entry Type
Historic Place Category 2
Public Access
Able to Visit
List Number
1839
Date Entered
25th November 1982
Locationopen/close
Extent of List Entry
Registration includes the hitching post on its footprint.
City/District Council
Christchurch City
Region
Canterbury Region
Legal description
Legal Road, Canterbury Land District
Location description
Adjacent to Lot 1 DP 42570. On the footpath outside the Canterbury Club, 129 Cambridge Tce.
Summaryopen/close
The Canterbury Club was established in 1872 by the 'newer' gentlemen of the province, professionals and businessmen, who found their backgrounds and interests to be different from those of the gentry membership of the established Christchurch Club (1856). The newly formed club purchased a property at the corner of Cambridge Tce and Worcester St, and commissioned W. B. Armson, a member, to design a club building. However Armson was compelled to withdraw because of ill health, and the commission fell in 1873 to Frederick Strouts instead. Strouts designed the greater part of the Italianate building in which the club still resides.
The hitching post outside the club appears to have been erected at the club's instigation in the 1870s or 1880s; a member suggested in 1875 that it would be a good idea. Once a ubiquitous feature of colonial towns, this hitching post is today one of few remaining in the city, and a poignant reminder of the time when horses were the main form of transport.
Assessment criteriaopen/close
Historical Significance or Value
The Canterbury Club hitching post has historical value as a poignant reminder of an era when horses were the most important mode of transport. It and the nearby gas lamp contribute to the historic values of the Canterbury Club as demonstration of the Club's colonial beginnings. The hitching post is a unique historic relic within the inner area of Christchurch city.
(h) serves to commemorate the once pivotal role of the horse as a mode of transport;
(k) forms part of a local historical grouping with the adjacent gas lamp (Cat. II) and Canterbury Club (Cat II), and part of the broader Worcester Boulevard cultural precinct.
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Additional informationopen/close
Physical Description
A wooden post, about 900 mm in height by 140mmsquare, with a shaped top and chamfered corners. A metal hook and ring were attached on the kerb side of the post, close to the top, but have been removed.
Construction Dates
Original Construction
1870 - 1890
Construction Details
Timber and iron.
Completion Date
7th October 2004
Report Written By
Pam Wilson
Information Sources
Christchurch City Council
Christchurch City Council
Heritage File Canterbury Club
New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT)
New Zealand Historic Places Trust
NZHPT Field Record Form
Other Information
A fully referenced version of this report is available from the NZHPT Southern Region Office.
Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rarangi Korero identifies only the heritage values of the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary conditions.