Cranmer Square, Christchurch, New Zealand

Cranmer Square is an urban park in central

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 New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is located northwest of the city's centre, Cathedral Square. The major arterial route of Montreal Street skirts the edge of the square. The square (actually a rectangle) is grassed and crossed by concrete paths and edged by mature trees. It covers an area of .

History

Like its near neighbour

Latimer Square Latimer Square is an urban park in central Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located east of the city's centre, Cathedral Square. Many commemorative events take place in Latimer Square. The square lies between the major urban thoroughfares of Glo ...

, Cranmer Square was named for an early

protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

martyr, Bishop

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...

. Cranmer Square was part of the original design of Christchurch when it was surveyed between 1849 and 1850 by Edward Jollie. Cranmer Square was used as a sports ground with cricket, soccer and hockey being played there. The Christchurch Normal School and the Christchurch Girls High School both used it as part of their school grounds. The first rugby game played in New Zealand may have occurred on Cranmer Square in 1863 between Christ’s College and the ‘Gentlemen of Christchurch’. It has also been suggested that this game was actually played at

. Celebrations for the first successful trans-Tasman air flight, by

Charles Kingsford-Smith Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith (9 February 18978 November 1935), nicknamed Smithy, was an Australian aviation pioneer. He piloted the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand. Kingsford Smith was b ...

, were held in Cranmer Square in late 1928. As a result of the damage to

Christchurch Cathedral ChristChurch Cathedral, also called Christ Church Cathedral and (rarely) Cathedral Church of Christ, is a deconsecrated Anglican cathedral in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It was built between 1864 and 1904 in the centre of the city, ...

in the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes, Cranmer Square has been used as the venue for Returned Servicemen's Association commemorations. It was proposed in August 2020 to move the Citizens’ War Memorial from Cathedral Square to Cranmer Square. It was supported by Heritage New Zealand at that time. In October 2020, a resource consent had yet to be submitted to enable this to occur. Cranmer Square was covered in white crosses on

ANZAC The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the Gallipoli campaign. General William Birdwood comma ...

days between 2015 and 2018 honouring the servicemen and women who died in WWI in 1915.

Notable buildings

A number of buildings surrounding Cranmer Square were destroyed in the earthquakes of 2011. There have been a number of buildings that have gone up in their place.

Cranmer Courts

The historic

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 ...

building was located close to Cranmer Square until it was demolished in the aftermath of 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 ...

. The building had previously been a

normal school A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...

, and in 1877 became the country's first teachers' training college. Celebrations for the first successful trans-Tasman air flight, by

, were held in Cranmer Square in late 1928.The Squares of Christchurch
" Christchurch City Libraries. Retrieved 16 June 2020.

References

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