Lambton Quay (once known as The Beach) is the heart of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, the

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

of New Zealand. Originally, as the name implies, it was the high-water line of the foreshore, and sometimes the sea would roll across the road and enter the shops on the opposite side. It was the site of the original European settlement in 1840 (following initial settlement on flood-prone land at

Petone Petone (Māori: ''Pito-one''), a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. The Māori name means "end of the sand beach". Europeans first settled in Pe ...

), which grew into Wellington. In the 19th century Pipitea Pa was situated at the extreme northern end of Lambton Quay – the section of road in this area is now known as Thorndon Quay. Land uplift caused by the

1855 Wairarapa earthquake The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake occurred on 23 January at about 9.17 p.m., affecting much of the Cook Strait area of New Zealand, including Marlborough in the South Island and Wellington and the Wairarapa in the North Island. In Wellington, clos ...

and further reclamation have left Lambton Quay some 250 metres from the current shoreline. Kumototo Stream used to flow from the Terrace, down what is now Woodward Street and across Lambton Quay to the waterfront. This stream was culverted in the late 19th century. Lambton Quay is named after

John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, (12 April 1792 – 28 July 1840), also known as "Radical Jack" and commonly referred to in Canadian history texts simply as Lord Durham, was a British Whig statesman, colonial administrator, Governor G ...

, the first chairman of directors of the

New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...

. Lambton Quay,

Willis Street Willis Street is a prominent street in the central business district of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Along with Courtenay Place, Manners Street and Lambton Quay, the lower reaches of Willis Street form part of the "Golden Mile" ...

, Manners Street and Courtenay Place form what is known locally as the ''Golden Mile''. The city's retail trade has spread further south to also include Cuba Street, but Lambton Quay remains a major commercial thoroughfare. In 2020 it was estimated that about 70,000 people travel on Lambton Quay and Willis Street each day, mostly on foot or by bus. It is also of administrative significance, with the

New Zealand Parliament Buildings New Zealand Parliament Buildings ( mi, Ngā whare Paremata) house the New Zealand Parliament and are on a 45,000 square metre site at the northern end of Lambton Quay, Wellington. They consist of the Edwardian neoclassical-style Parliament Ho ...

towards the northern end. The

Wellington Cenotaph The Wellington Cenotaph, also known as the Wellington Citizens' War Memorial, is a war memorial located on the intersection of Lambton Quay and Bowen Street in Wellington, New Zealand. It commemorates the war dead of the two world wars. The ceno ...

is also located at this end, next to Parliament. The

Wellington Cable Car The Wellington Cable Car is a funicular railway in Wellington, New Zealand, between Lambton Quay, the main shopping street, and Kelburn, a suburb in the hills overlooking the central city, rising over a length of . The one way trip takes appro ...

runs from Lambton Quay to the top of the

Botanic Garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

James Henry Marriott James Henry Marriott (1799 – 25 August 1886) was a New Zealand theatre manager, actor, entertainer, playwright, songwriter, engraver, optician and bookseller. He was born in London, England, and arrived in New Zealand three years after the ...

, who arrived from London in 1843, had a bookshop here. The length of Lambton Quay is punctuated by several notable sculptures.

History

Dense bush, down to the harbour's edge, covered much of the area until 1840 and, at the site of the

Old Bank Arcade The Old Bank Arcade is a retail and office complex on a corner site at Lambton Quay, Wellington, New Zealand. The property consists of four buildings built between 1883 and 1904. The most prominent is the Bank of New Zealand building (no. 1) o ...

, it could be hard to get round the rocks at high tide at what was then Windy Point, or Clay Point. The Point was dug away between 1857 and 1863 to reclaim 7 acres 3 roods 34

perches Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...

(almost ). The name Lambton Quay was in use by the end of 1840. On 22 October 1840 Barrett's Hotel, a 2-storey pub, opened at the north end of the Quay. The Wellington Hotel opened by 1843. Its owner, Baron Alzdorf, was the only Wellington person killed in the 1855 earthquake, when a chimney of the hotel fell on him, after which it became the Criterion Hotel, a name it kept until at least 1887. By 1900 buildings on the Quay included the Royal Hotel, government printer, Old Government Buildings, Central Police Station, Club Hotel, Occidental Hotel,

Commercial Union Commercial Union plc was a large insurance business based in London. It merged with General Accident in 1998 to form CGU plc. History Commercial Union was established following a conflagration near London Bridge in 1861, known as the Great Too ...

and

New Zealand Insurance NZI or New Zealand Insurance is a major insurance company in New Zealand. NZI was formed in Auckland by 1859 as the New Zealand Insurance Company and is one of New Zealand's largest and longest-serving fire and general insurance brands. In a ...

companies, Trust & Loan Co, Star Hotel, Baker Bros,

Union Bank of Australia The Union Bank of Australia was an Australian bank in operation from 1837 to 1951. It was established in London in October 1837 with a subscribed capital of £500,000. The foundation of the bank had followed a visit to England by Van Diemen's Land ...

Bank of New South Wales The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known commonly as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia, being established in Sydney in 1817 and situated on Broadway, New South Wales, Broadway. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches ...

, South British Insurance, Colonial Bank, Exchange Building, Barrett's Hotel and Equitable Building Investment Co.

References

External links

Lambton Quay online
{{coord, -41.281615, 174.776043, region:NZ-WGN_type:landmark, display=title Streets in Wellington City Shopping districts and streets in New Zealand Wellington Central, Wellington