Addington Prison - Jailhouse Accommodation

BOOK YOUR STAY AT JAILHOUSE ACCOMMODATION

Brimming with character and genuine Canterbury heritage in a city which has lost so much, is this monument to Victorian penal theory, unpleasant as it may have been. The pinnacle of the heritage credentials would have to be that the jail (Gaol at the time, in 1874) was designed by the gothic revival architect who was responsible for the city's very best buildings, Benjamin Mountfort. His gothic arched windows and doors are a signature. And another asset is built-in, the simple fact that this building was put up to keep criminals incarcerated meant that it was sturdy enough to withstand the coming century and a half and all that came with it including the earthquakes. Canterbury was an early adopter of reinforced concrete construction, and although this method did not help save The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, here it must have been applied with some vigor.

Lyttelton Gaolwas the damp, spooky stone-built confines for the first few criminals caught in the Canterbury Province, and it was soon spilling over. The new Addington facility, bought in 1860, was much bigger than the remaining building cellblock (now named the Mountfort Block), beginning with a basic 'reformatory' for female inmates in 1871, the cellblock being built between 1874 and 1880. The authorities raised a variety of other buildings and used the site in different ways until the male prisoners moved out to Paparua in 1925. It became a women's facility and remained so into the 1950s. New Zealand military found storage uses for the grounds and outbuildings, then made use of the cellblock as accommodation through until 1959.

In an interesting twist the Corrections Department took the Mountfort Block back and, incredibly, used it for remand until 1999. Christchurch is good at tut-tutting and whispers about the condition of the accommodation were around for decades before it's closure.

Admittedly the Jail was bolstered by restoration and strengthening efforts, the pity being that some of Mountforts other buildings with higher architectural credentials did not receive the same treatment. Although it is a plain old Jail, some original detail applied to the exterior which demonstrates its age and pedigree and is made mention of by Heritage New Zealand, who consider it a Category Two listing.

Christchurch City Council has made huge efforts in its District Plan to respect the heritage of the Jail building and perimeter concrete wall, an odd and incomplete broken wall which probably dates from when the women prisoners were divided into categories and kept separate. The Council research indicates it may be the oldest surviving cellblock in New Zealand, though New Plymouth Prison (1843) owned the honours as the oldest operational facility when it closed in 2013 and Napier Prison also lays claim to the title.

If you choose to stay in the Jailhouse Accommodation, you will be greeted with a film-set jail, Mountfort's Gothic arches, and some confronting reminders of prison accommodation in bygone days, more so if you consider it only closed two decades ago. One room is given over to a jail museum.
The mattresses are reported to be comfortable however, and the atmosphere friendly. You may even buy stripy Pyjamas as a momento.

The remainder of the Jail/Gaol grounds have become a city fringe park, which is really only big enough to walk through. And maybe contemplate a Century and a half of forensic and army occupation.

BOOK YOUR STAY AT JAILHOUSE ACCOMMODATION

Image Credits: Booking.com