Historical Christchurch Wall Map (1886)

See Christchurch as its first generations of settlers knew it. This 1886 Plan of the City of Christchurch captures the Garden City less than forty years after the first Canterbury Association ships arrived - the original street grid and every numbered town section, Cathedral Square, Cranmer and Latimer Squares, and the Avon River winding through it all, framed by the North, South and East Town Belts and the boroughs of St Albans and Sydenham beyond.

Much of the city on this map has changed beyond recognition, and many of the buildings standing in 1886 were lost in the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. Yet the streets the early surveyors laid out are still there. Find your street, your school or your family's old address, and trace nearly 140 years of Christchurch history. For the wider region, pair it with our Banks Peninsula and Akaroa Wall Map.

Prepared under Surveyor General James McKerrow and Chief Surveyor John H. Baker, and photolithographed at the General Survey Office in Wellington in 1887. Faithfully reproduced from the original, with its fine linework, ornate title lettering and New Zealand Survey crest intact. A striking piece for Christchurch homes and offices, history lovers, and anyone with roots in Canterbury.

A meaningful gift for a new Christchurch homeowner, a Cantabrian living away from home, or anyone tracing their family history in the city.

Please note: this map is reproduced as per the original, with the addition of a small, discreet copyright acknowledgement.