
Linwood is an inner suburb of the city of
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. It lies to the east of the
city centre
A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...
, mostly between Ferry Road and Linwood Avenue, two of the major arterial roads to the eastern suburbs of Christchurch. It is one of the city's older suburbs, established in 1850.
History
Linwood is one of Christchurch's older suburbs which was established in 1850. "Linwood" was given its name by
Joseph Brittan
Joseph Brittan (12 January 1806 – 27 October 1867) was a New Zealand surgeon, newspaper editor, and provincial councillor, was one of the dominant figures in early Christchurch. Born into a middle-class family in southern England, he followed ...
, who purchased rural section 300 in Avonside. The adjoining rural section 301 was to be part of the farm, but the right was sold but probably farmed with rural section 300 and was eventually bought back by his son in 1874. To this was added a small part of section 30 to give access in 1855 and 21-year lease for the adjoining sections in 1862 giving a total area of about 380 acres (about 150ha).
He called the farm Linwood, as he was from
Linwood, Hampshire.
Brittan built
Linwood House at 30 Linwood Avenue in 1857, which stood there until demolition following the February
2011 Christchurch earthquake
A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...
.
Christchurch lacked an accessible port before the construction of the
Lyttelton Rail Tunnel in 1867. This posed a significant problem for the fledgling city. A barge service along what is now Linwood Avenue was mooted prior to this tunnel but was never completed.
The
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 ...
was the site of a mass shooting during 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 ...
on 15 March 2019.
Demographics
Linwood covers .
It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km
2.
Linwood had a population of 9,783 at the
2018 New Zealand census
The 2018 New Zealand census, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018, was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 (10.79%) over the 2013 census.
Resu ...
, an increase of 1,161 people (13.5%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 768 people (8.5%) since the
2006 census. There were 3,873 households, comprising 5,043 males and 4,743 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.06 males per female, with 1,563 people (16.0%) aged under 15 years, 2,559 (26.2%) aged 15 to 29, 4,593 (46.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,074 (11.0%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 64.5% European/
Pākehā
''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...
, 16.9%
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
, 6.9%
Pasifika, 21.3%
Asian, and 3.9% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 31.8, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 45.9% had no religion, 32.0% were
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, 1.1% had
Māori religious beliefs
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
, 5.9% were
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
, 1.7% were
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
, 1.2% were
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and 4.9% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 1,503 (18.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 1,635 (19.9%) people had no formal qualifications. 636 people (7.7%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 4,215 (51.3%) people were employed full-time, 1,101 (13.4%) were part-time, and 459 (5.6%) were unemployed.
Economy
Retail
A long established retail section is on Stanmore Road around the intersections with Gloucester and Worcester Streets. It underwent significant upgrading in the 2020s and has been described as an
urban village
In urban planning and urban design, design, an urban village is an urban development typically characterized by medium-density housing, mixed use zoning, good public transit and an emphasis on pedestrianization and public space. Contemporary urb ...
.
Linwood's main commercial area is located around the intersection of Linwood Avenue, Aldwins Road and Buckleys Road. There is also a shopping mall in the suburb, known as Eastgate Mall (formerly Linwood City) that contains a Christchurch City Council community centre and a library. It covers an area of 30,500 m
2.
It is a two level shopping mall but used to encompass a much larger area prior to the 22 February 2011 earthquake. The mall has 1100 carparks and 37 shops, including
The Warehouse A warehouse is a storage facility.
Warehouse or The Warehouse may also refer to:
Buildings and places Canada
* The Warehouse (Toronto), a defunct nightclub in Toronto, Ontario
* The Warehouse Studio, a recording facility and photography studio i ...
,
Woolworths,
Warehouse Stationery,
Number One Shoes and
Lincraft
Lincraft is a retail chain in Australia that specialises in the sale of homewares, including crafts, material, and patterns. As of October 2022, it has 48 locations around Australia and New Zealand.
Lincraft (formerly Suzanne Silks) was nurtured ...
.
Parks

The largest parks in Linwood are Bromley Park and the adjacent
Linwood Cemetery, followed by Beverley Park and the North Linwood Community Park. As there are no defined suburb boundaries in Christchurch, post code boundaries are sometimes used for suburb boundaries (e.g. by
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...
). According to Google Maps, most of Woodham Park is located in Linwood whilst only part of Linwood Park belongs to the eponymous suburb. Most commonly, Aldwins Road and Linwood Avenue are considered the boundary roads of
Woolston and if so, Linwood Park is located in Woolston.
Education
Te Aratai College is a secondary school for years 7 to 13. It has a roll of . The school opened in 1954.
Te Pā o Rākaihautū is a
Kura Kaupapa Māori
Kura may refer to:
Places
* Kura, Iran (disambiguation)
* Kura Island, Azerbaijan
* Kura, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Kano State
* Kura (South Caucasus river), a river in Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan
* Kura (Russia), a river in R ...
composite school which teaches years 1 to 13 in the
Māori language
Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...
. It has a roll of . It was founded in 2015.
Linwood Avenue Primary School and Whītau School are contributing primary schools for years 1 to 6, with rolls of and students, respectively. Linwood Avenue opened in 1928, and Whītau opened in 1908 as Linwood North School.
All of these are coeducational state schools. Rolls are as of
Notable people
*
Lianne Dalziel
Lianne Audrey Dalziel (; born 7 June 1960) is a New Zealand politician and former Mayor of Christchurch. Prior to this position, she was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for 23 years, serving as Minister of Immigration, Commerce, Minister ...
(born 1960), former Mayor of Christchurch from 2013–2022.
References
{{Christchurch City, New Zealand
Suburbs of Christchurch