Ashburton Domain

Okay, so I'm here in the Ashburton Domain, and it's quite a spot. It's right in the middle of Ashburton, covering about 91 acres, and you can tell it's been developed over a long time, since the 1870s. The Ashburton District Council apparently calls it "the jewel in Ashburton's crown," and I can see why.

Back in 1864, when Robert Park surveyed Ashburton, he included this land specifically for gardens and recreation. Apparently, it was originally described as a "miserable wildness" of spear grass and tussock, which is hard to imagine looking at it now.

They set up a Domain Board in 1874, but nothing really happened until 1877 when they finally hired a gardener to start systematic planting. Money came from the Canterbury Provincial Council, right before it was dis-established. In 1878, the cricket club helped fund a cricket field, and by 1880, they were diverting water from Mill Creek to create lakes. They even built two dams in 1886, forming lakes with a horseshoe bend and an island.

It's interesting to think about how much it's changed. In 1889, they even converted a small lake into a swimming pool, which was super popular for swimming carnivals. There was one in 1892 that drew 2,000 spectators! They even held ice skating carnivals there in really cold winters like 1886, 1889, and 1895. That pool was used until 1948, but then it closed due to public health concerns.

The real transformation seems to have happened when W.W. Smith became the caretaker in 1894. He was a landscape gardener from England and really knew his stuff. He became "curator" in 1895 and planted the rose garden that year, and a bowling green was added in 1898. He focused on curved pathways and naturalistic plantings, even using native trees and shrubs. He planted a lot of trees in the 1890s, though some were lost to drought and heavy frosts. Apparently, the rows of conifers near the croquet ground from 1898 are still here, which is pretty cool. He even replanted an island in the lake with native trees in 1903. When he left in 1904, the local paper really praised his work.

Later on, in 1935, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, even visited the oval here, and they used a public address system for the first time in Ashburton, which is a neat historical detail. During World War II, it was a temporary camp for soldiers, and in 1954, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh were welcomed here. And get this, in 1998, over 5,000 people came to a concert by Malvina Major and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra right here on the oval. It's been through a lot!