Halswell Quarry operated between 1861 and 1990 before becoming the Halswell Quarry Park, one of many Christchurch City Council reserves. It offers a combination of walking and mountain biking tracks, historic sites, picnic areas, botanical collections, and six sister city gardens.

Location

Halswell Quarry Park is located in the suburb of

Kennedys Bush Kennedys Bush is a south-western suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. Thomas Kennedy purchased of native bush in the Port Hills in 1856. In the late 1850s, Kennedys Bush Road up a spur towards the bush was surveyed, and constructed in 1863. H ...

at 185 Kennedy's Bush Road in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) 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 / ...

, New Zealand.

History of Halswell Quarry

Halswell Quarry provided crushed stone for roading and cut stone for significant works including the

Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings The Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings were the buildings of the Canterbury Provincial Council that administered the Canterbury Province from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. The buildings are the only purpose-built ...

Durham Street Methodist Church The Durham Street Methodist Church in Christchurch was the earliest stone church constructed in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. It is registered as a "Historic Place – Category I" by Heritage New Zealand. The church was severely damaged ...

Cranmer Court Cranmer Court, the former Christchurch Normal School, was one of the most significant heritage buildings in Christchurch, New Zealand. Its demolition, due to some damage in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, was controversial. History The Canter ...

formerly Christchurch Normal School and the Sign of the Takahe. The stone was a distinctive blue-grey colour. Between 1861 and 1925 the quarry had several owners and was finally bought, in 1925 by the Christchurch City Council who managed it until 1990 when it became commercially unviable due to reduced stone reserves. It is thought to have been the oldest and longest continually operating quarry in Australasia.

Halswell Quarry buildings

Three original buildings are still located in Halswell Quarry Park which are the crusher plant workshop (1912), the singlemen's accommodation barracks (1922), and the manager's residence which is listed in Heritage New Zealand as Halswell Quarry stone house and garden (1927). All three buildings were renovated after the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

. File:Halswell Quarry Manager's Residence.jpg, alt=Formerly the manager's residence for Halswell Quarry., Formerly the manager's residence for Halswell Quarry File:Halswell Quarry Singlemen's Quarters.jpg, alt=Formerly the singlemen's quarters for Halswell Quarry., Formerly the singlemen's quarters for Halswell Quarry File:Halswell Quarry Crusher plant.jpg, alt=Crusher plant buildings formerly in use at Halswell Quarry., Crusher plant buildings formerly in use at Halswell Quarry

Halswell Quarry walks and tracks

* Canterbury Wetland walk * Cashmere Hill loop * Cashmere Road shared use track * Findlay's walk * Kennedy's Bush access track * Quarry Rim track * Quarry view * Sister city walks

References

{{Authority control Parks in Christchurch Quarries