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Hagley Park is the largest
urban open space In land-use planning, urban green spaces are open-space areas reserved for parks and other "green spaces." These include plant life, water features also known as blue spaces and other kinds of natural environments. Most urban open spaces a ...
(164.637 hectares)Hagley Park Management Plan
,
Christchurch City Council The Christchurch City Council (CCC) is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Ma ...
; New Zealand.
in
Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
, New Zealand, and was established in 1855 by the Provincial Government. According to the government's decree at that time, Hagley Park is "reserved forever as a public park, and shall be open for the recreation and enjoyment of the public." Hagley Park is characterised by its trees and broad open spaces. Hagley Park was named after Hagley Park, the country estate of Lord Lyttelton, who became chairman of the
Canterbury Association The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), members of parliament, Peerage of the United Kingdom, peers, and Anglicanism, Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The se ...
in March 1850.


Location

The boundaries of the park, which is located to the east of the central city of Christchurch, are defined by both the
Avon River / Ōtākaro The Avon River / Ōtākaro ( ; ), sometimes rendered as the River Avon, flows through the centre of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, and into the Pacific Ocean via the Avon Heathcote Estuary / Ihutai, which it shares with the Ōpāwaho / H ...
and the surrounding roadways. The longest road boundary is that along Deans Avenue, often regarded as one of The Four Avenues which delimit central Christchurch. On the western side adjacent is the suburb of
Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scot ...
. To the north and northeast, the natural path of the Avon River bounds the park. Moorhouse Avenue and Hagley Avenue form the south and south-eastern boundaries, respectively. Along the eastern boundary, the Park is defined by the two kilometre loop of the Avon River, which extends into the side of Hagley Park. The
Christchurch Botanic Gardens The Christchurch Botanic Gardens, located in the Christchurch Central City, central city of Christchurch, New Zealand, were founded in 1863 when an English oak was planted to commemorate the solemnisation of the marriage of Edward VII of the Un ...
(21.14 hectares) are located within this loop and frequent bridges provide connections. The Botanic Gardens contain a collection of beautiful flowers and trees from around the world. The gardens attract many birds to the park, and sightseers frequently visit the park to view the plants and the wildlife. The Canterbury Museum and Christ's College are the two other land uses that take up the balance of the land within the river's loop. Two major avenues subdivide the park into three units. The northern unit is Little Hagley Park (6.96 hectares), with North Hagley Park (87.17 hectares) lying to the south of Harper Avenue. South Hagley Park (70.507 hectares) lies to the south of North Hagley Park, separated by Riccarton Avenue.


Road proposals

At various times, it was proposed to build additional roads through the park. In the 1860s, it was considered to connect Armagh Street with the Great South Road (now called Riccarton Road).


Usage

In its early days, Hagley Park was used for horse races. Hagley Park has frequently been a site for gathering large crowds together: it served as the location for the Great Industrial Exposition of 1882 and the New Zealand International Exhibition in 1906–1907. In 1906, the Australasian tennis championships (now known as the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
) were held in Hagley Park as part of the
Grand Slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...
. The singles event was won by
Tony Wilding Anthony Frederick Wilding (31 October 1883 – 9 May 1915), also known as Tony Wilding, was a New Zealand world No. 1 tennis player and soldier who was killed in action during World War I. Considered the world's first tennis superstar, Wildin ...
, who defeated
Francis Fisher Francis Marion Bates Fisher (22 December 1877 – 24 July 1960) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament from Wellington. He was known as Rainbow Fisher for his frequent changes of political allegiance. He was a veteran of the Boer War and an in ...
in three sets. In recent years, the park has hosted many visiting
circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...
es and open-air
concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...
s. The
Ellerslie Flower Show The Ellerslie International Flower Show was an annual garden show held in New Zealand. Previously held in the city of Auckland, the show moved to Christchurch at Hagley Park in 2008. Attendance is several tens of thousands of people at each ev ...
has been held in North Hagley Park since 2008. The park has hosted the Electric Avenue Music Festival. There is also a
golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...
(named Hagley Golf Club) located in North Hagley Park. South Hagley Park contains several
netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...
courts, the
Hagley Oval Hagley Oval is a Cricket field, cricket ground in Hagley Park, Christchurch, Hagley Park in the Christchurch Central City, central city of Christchurch, New Zealand. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1867, when Canterbury cricket te ...
cricket ground and a
heliport A heliport is a small airport which has a helipad, suitable for use by helicopters, powered lift, and various types of vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also hav ...
for
Christchurch Hospital Christchurch Hospital is the largest tertiary hospital in the South Island of New Zealand. The public hospital is in the centre of Christchurch city, on the edge of Hagley Park, and serves the wider Canterbury region. The Canterbury District ...
, although as of 2019 there are calls to build a helipad on the roof of the hospital itself. Hagley Park was also the site of a national memorial service attended by 20,000 people to remember the 51 dead victims of the
Christchurch mosque shootings Two consecutive mass shootings took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 15 March 2019. They were committed by a single perpetrator during Friday prayer, first at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton, at 1:40p.m. and almost immediately afterwards ...
at Al Noor Mosque and
Linwood Islamic Centre The Linwood Islamic Centre was a Sunni Islamic mosque in Linwood, Christchurch, New Zealand. Opened in 2018, targeted in the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, the mosque was demolished in 2023, with plans to establish a new mosque on the site ...
which included the likes of
New Zealand Prime Minister The prime minister of New Zealand () is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, leader of the New Zealand National Party, took office on 27 November 2023. The prime minister (informally abbreviated to ...
Jacinda Ardern Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician and activist who was the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was ...
and
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
Muslim convert singer
Yusuf Islam Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion st ...
(aka Cat Stevens). Image:HagleyPark02 gobeirne.jpg, North Hagley Park, late afternoon in winter Image:HagleyPark03 gobeirne.jpg, Little Hagley Park (north of Harper Ave) in summer Image:HagleyPark05 gobeirne.jpg, Foggy morning, North Hagley Park Image:HagleyPark06 gobeirne.jpg, A
black swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large Anatidae, waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent ...
and model yachts on Victoria Lake Image:HagleyPark01 gobeirne.jpg, North Hagley Park in autumn
The weekly Saturday
parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...
takes place at the North Hagley Park.


References


External links


Hagley Park Map, Christchurch City CouncilHagley Park, Christchurch City CouncilThe Christchurch Botanic Gardens
{{authority control 1856 establishments in New Zealand Parks in Christchurch Urban public parks World's fair sites in New Zealand Tourist attractions in Christchurch Golf clubs and courses in New Zealand Heliports in New Zealand Cricket grounds in New Zealand *