Blackheath Place

Before the 2011 earthquakes, Christchurch was often described as the 'most English city in the Southern Hemisphere'. In the microcosm that is the Blackheath Place, that impression remains, and it is a strong one.

Begun in 1876, by Frank Hitchings, a bricklayer from Blackheath in London, Blackheath Place grew from a single home for his family, into a pretty bright red brick row reminiscent of any perfectly Victorian English Terrace. Hitchings and his wife eventually had eight children and moved from the original #61 to a bigger one further down, and filled the spaces in between with more homes, and then finished off the row with a slight change of style as his son Richard completed his bricklaying apprenticeship there. There are also reports that Margaret Hitchings job, besides having eight children, was to stack bricks in the back yard. And also in the back yard Frank Hitchings built himself an observatory, being a keen amateur astronomer.

Terraced housing is much less usual in New Zealand than Australian cities, as the emphasis was always on single family dwellings with gardens. This set were very popular with tenants, with some going as far as to call it 'New Zealand's first commune.' The Hitchings family retained ownership of the lot until 1983. Change only took place when Sydnenham became less residential and more commercial, the new owner converting some of the block to offices and showrooms, which still rent well. In the 1990s the value of the redbrick build was recognised with a complimentary L shaped building on an adjoining lot.

Visitors to Blackheath Place will now find a tidy row of terraced homes that might be decidedly uninteresting in an English setting but rather remarkable in post-quake Christchurch. A classic curved roof brick tunnel mid-terrace leads to the back lot, it is topped by the proud sign "Blackheath EST 1876" and the street sign for Wordsworth Street is stuck, London style to the end terrace. Christchurch City Council has recognised the remaining single family dwellings within the set with a Statement of Significance.