Cathedral Square, Christchurch

So, I'm standing here in Cathedral Square, or "the Square" as the locals call it. It’s pretty much the heart of Christchurch, right where the Christ Church Cathedral is. You know, it's funny, they initially wanted to call it Ridley Square, after Nicholas Ridley, who was martyred in Oxford. That’s another one of those Oxford connections Christchurch has. But Edward Jollie's plan from 1850 just marked it as Cathedral Square, and the name stuck. You can even see other squares named after Ridley's fellow martyrs, Cranmer and Latimer, nearby.

Even though it's called a square, it's actually shaped like a cross, which I thought was interesting. Apparently, in the very first survey of central Christchurch back in 1850, the idea was to have both Christ's College and the Cathedral side-by-side here, a bit like Christ Church, Oxford. But the space wasn't big enough for the college, so it ended up moving to where the Botanic Gardens are.

There's a lot of history here about how the cathedral ended up exactly where it is. The original plan had Colombo Street running straight through the middle, and the cathedral to the west of it. But Henry Harper, the first Bishop, wanted the cathedral's main entrance to face Colombo Street so people would pray towards the east, which is a traditional Christian practice. So they passed another ordinance in 1859 to make that happen. Then, just before they started building the foundations in 1864, they changed Colombo Street's alignment again, adding a curve to the west so the cathedral's tower would be visible from further down the street.

It’s pretty clear this place has seen a lot. The city's first public statue, of John Robert Godley, was unveiled right here in 1867. The central post office was also built nearby in 1879. They’ve redesigned the Square a few times over the years, even closing off roads in front of the cathedral and post office in the 60s and 70s. In the late 90s, early 2000s, they did a big renovation with new tiling, which apparently got a lot of criticism for being too glary or slippery.

Before the 2011 earthquake, this was clearly the city's main gathering spot. You had all sorts of street performers and characters, like "The Wizard of New Zealand," and others like the "Birdman" and "Bible Lady" who were quite the local attractions. The earthquake really hit this area hard, and a lot of the historic buildings that were registered heritage items were damaged or even lost. The Cathedral itself is a Category I heritage place, registered back in 1983. The Press Building, which was right here, was so damaged it had to be demolished.

It's good to see some new life here though. The Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre opened in 2021, and they've been working on renovating some of the "tatty" corners of the Square. They even brought the Anzac Day dawn services back here in 2023, which is a nice return to tradition after they were held in Cranmer Square for a while.