Construction eventually went ahead under the jurisdiction of the newly-constituted Lyttelton Harbour Board (1877), when in October 1879 the successful tenderers, Ware & Jones, were awarded the contract and work began. In July of the following year the Board decided to increase the length of the proposed dock by fifteen metres, and in February 1882 the structure was completed. With the iron caisson finally installed, the graving dock was officially opened by the Acting Governor, Sir James Prendergast, on January 3 1883 when the Hurunui entered into the dock.
The dock was used to repair and maintain Scott's Discovery and Terra Nova in the early years of this century, and as such serves as a reminder of Lyttleton's significant link with Antarctica from the earliest days of polar exploration. Although many modern ships are too large to fit into the graving dock today, it continues to serve an important function within the port.
[The brick pumphouse building was demolished in 2011 following damage caused by the Canterbury Earthquakes, but its foundations remain and are visible within a new modern pumphouse subsequently erected c2015]
List Entry Information
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
4389
Date Entered
16th November 1989
Date of Effect
16th November 1989
City/District Council
Christchurch City
Region
Canterbury Region
Legal description
Pt Lot 7 DP 67082 (RT CB42D/881), Canterbury Land District
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
4389
Date Entered
16th November 1989
Date of Effect
16th November 1989
City/District Council
Christchurch City
Region
Canterbury Region
Legal description
Pt Lot 7 DP 67082 (RT CB42D/881), Canterbury Land District
Why is this place significant?
Historic Significance
Historical Significance or Value The Lyttelton graving dock and pumphouse are examples of important public works initiated by Provincial Governments in New Zealand. The 110 year old dock was an ancillary facility essential for the maritime trade on which New Zealand's commercial prosperity in the late 19th and the 20th century depended. It is still in use today.
Physical Significance
ARCHITECTURAL QUALITY: The graving dock is a remarkable feat of Victorian marine engineering. Three hundred men spent over two years carrying out the excavation, reclamation and construction necessary to fulfil the contract, although in the event the official opening was delayed nearly a year because the caisson, built by Messrs McKay and Stephenson, had not arrived from Glasgow. The engines and pumps were imported from the English firm of Easton and Anderson and they make it possible to empty the dock in about four and a half hours. The contractors, Ware and Jones, who had recently constructed the graving dock at Auckland, used 2500 tons of cement and 660 tons of stone during the course of construction. The use of concrete for a major part of the construction is of considerable technological importance. The pumphouse is a well-proportioned and detailed example of nineteenth century design and construction in brick. The blind arches imbue the building with an architectural sophistication uncommon in utilitarian maritime structures. TOWNSCAPE/LANDMARK SIGNIFICANCE: The pumphouse chimney must have once been a port landmark but it was demolished in 1931 and the dock now nestles unobtrusively into the hill behind Naval Point. However, it makes a strong visual impact when viewed from Brittan Street.
Why is this place significant?
Historic Significance
Historical Significance or Value The Lyttelton graving dock and pumphouse are examples of important public works initiated by Provincial Governments in New Zealand. The 110 year old dock was an ancillary facility essential for the maritime trade on which New Zealand's commercial prosperity in the late 19th and the 20th century depended. It is still in use today.
Physical Significance
ARCHITECTURAL QUALITY: The graving dock is a remarkable feat of Victorian marine engineering. Three hundred men spent over two years carrying out the excavation, reclamation and construction necessary to fulfil the contract, although in the event the official opening was delayed nearly a year because the caisson, built by Messrs McKay and Stephenson, had not arrived from Glasgow. The engines and pumps were imported from the English firm of Easton and Anderson and they make it possible to empty the dock in about four and a half hours. The contractors, Ware and Jones, who had recently constructed the graving dock at Auckland, used 2500 tons of cement and 660 tons of stone during the course of construction. The use of concrete for a major part of the construction is of considerable technological importance. The pumphouse is a well-proportioned and detailed example of nineteenth century design and construction in brick. The blind arches imbue the building with an architectural sophistication uncommon in utilitarian maritime structures. TOWNSCAPE/LANDMARK SIGNIFICANCE: The pumphouse chimney must have once been a port landmark but it was demolished in 1931 and the dock now nestles unobtrusively into the hill behind Naval Point. However, it makes a strong visual impact when viewed from Brittan Street.
Construction Professional
Name
Bell, Charles Napier
Type
Architect
Biography
Bell (1835-1906) was one of New Zealand's foremost civil engineers during the late nineteenth century. English by birth Bell received his training with Bell and Miller, Engineers of Glasgow, and in the late 1850s he worked on the Edinburgh sewerage system and the Glasgow graving dock. During the 1860s he worked in South America and Europe planning railways systems, water and harbourworks, and in 1867 he became an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. In 1871, working for the English railway contractors J. Brogden and Sons, Bell arrived in New Zealand to advise on the siting of the Rangitata railway bridge and the development of the harbour in Timaru. Five years later he was appointed engineer to the Christchurch Drainage Board and in February 1873 Bell began a seven year association with the Lyttelton Harbour Board. He acted as the Board's first consulting engineer until his resignation in December 1885 when he took up the position of engineer with the Westport Harbour Board. Until his death in Tasmania in 1906 Bell undertook engineering work throughout New Zealand and Australia.
Construction Details
Start Year
1882
Type
Original Construction
Start Year
1924
Finish Year
1926
Type
Other
Description
Electrification of pump house machinery
Start Year
1931
Type
Demolished - Other
Description
Pump house chimney demolished
Construction Materials
Basalt, from Port Chalmers and Melbourne, sealed with cement. Upper four altars are concrete. Iron caisson made in Glasgow. The pumphouse is a brick structure with a pitched iron roof.
Construction Professional
Name
Bell, Charles Napier
Type
Architect
Biography
Bell (1835-1906) was one of New Zealand's foremost civil engineers during the late nineteenth century. English by birth Bell received his training with Bell and Miller, Engineers of Glasgow, and in the late 1850s he worked on the Edinburgh sewerage system and the Glasgow graving dock. During the 1860s he worked in South America and Europe planning railways systems, water and harbourworks, and in 1867 he became an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. In 1871, working for the English railway contractors J. Brogden and Sons, Bell arrived in New Zealand to advise on the siting of the Rangitata railway bridge and the development of the harbour in Timaru. Five years later he was appointed engineer to the Christchurch Drainage Board and in February 1873 Bell began a seven year association with the Lyttelton Harbour Board. He acted as the Board's first consulting engineer until his resignation in December 1885 when he took up the position of engineer with the Westport Harbour Board. Until his death in Tasmania in 1906 Bell undertook engineering work throughout New Zealand and Australia.
Construction Details
Start Year
1882
Type
Original Construction
Start Year
1924
Finish Year
1926
Type
Other
Description
Electrification of pump house machinery
Start Year
1931
Type
Demolished - Other
Description
Pump house chimney demolished
Construction Materials
Basalt, from Port Chalmers and Melbourne, sealed with cement. Upper four altars are concrete. Iron caisson made in Glasgow. The pumphouse is a brick structure with a pitched iron roof.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: Part of the inner harbour developments at Lyttelton, the dock and pumphouse lie on the western side of the harbour, opposite the Timeball Station. The dock is a purely utilitarian structure which achieves a level of monumental grandeur with the symmetry of its massive altars, or steps. To the south of the dock entrance stands the pumphouse which is more architecturally pretentious. Here the engineer has set the windows within blind arches the simple shapes of which complement the exposed brickwork of which they are formed. The cubic forms of the adjoining machine rooms which comprise the pumphouse are topped by pitched roofs of slightly different heights and the overall effect is one of careful styling which goes beyond the realm of the purely functional.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: Part of the inner harbour developments at Lyttelton, the dock and pumphouse lie on the western side of the harbour, opposite the Timeball Station. The dock is a purely utilitarian structure which achieves a level of monumental grandeur with the symmetry of its massive altars, or steps. To the south of the dock entrance stands the pumphouse which is more architecturally pretentious. Here the engineer has set the windows within blind arches the simple shapes of which complement the exposed brickwork of which they are formed. The cubic forms of the adjoining machine rooms which comprise the pumphouse are topped by pitched roofs of slightly different heights and the overall effect is one of careful styling which goes beyond the realm of the purely functional.
Historical and Associated Iwi / Hapū / Whānau
Information Sources
Furkert, 1953
Frederick William Furkert, Early New Zealand Engineers, Wellington, 1953
Press
Press, 17 May 1915, p.9.
Clibborn, 1940
C.H. Clibborn, Port of Lyttelton, New Zealand, Lyttelton Harbour Board, Christchurch, 1940
Scotter, 1968
W.H. Scotter, A History of Port Lyttelton, Lyttelton Harbour Board, Christchurch, 1968
Porter, 1983
Frances Porter (ed), Historic Buildings of Dunedin, South Island, Methuen, Auckland, 1983.
Wilson, 1984
J Wilson (compiler), AA Book of New Zealand Historic Places, Lansdowner Press, Auckland 1984
Other Information
This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. This report includes the text from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. 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.
Historical and Associated Iwi / Hapū / Whānau
Information Sources
Furkert, 1953
Frederick William Furkert, Early New Zealand Engineers, Wellington, 1953
Press
Press, 17 May 1915, p.9.
Clibborn, 1940
C.H. Clibborn, Port of Lyttelton, New Zealand, Lyttelton Harbour Board, Christchurch, 1940
Scotter, 1968
W.H. Scotter, A History of Port Lyttelton, Lyttelton Harbour Board, Christchurch, 1968
Porter, 1983
Frances Porter (ed), Historic Buildings of Dunedin, South Island, Methuen, Auckland, 1983.
Wilson, 1984
J Wilson (compiler), AA Book of New Zealand Historic Places, Lansdowner Press, Auckland 1984
Other Information
This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. This report includes the text from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. 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.
Former Usages
General Usage: Transport
Specific Usage: Wharf/Dock/ Pier/ Jetty
Themes
Polar Connections (Antarctic or Arctic)
Former Usages
General Usage: Transport
Specific Usage: Wharf/Dock/ Pier/ Jetty
Themes
Polar Connections (Antarctic or Arctic)
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