Lyttelton Gaol
 Remaining structures of the gaol in 2025 | |
 Interactive map of Lyttelton Gaol | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Opened | c. 1860 |
| Closed | c. 1920 |
| Designated | 13 December 1996[1] |
| Reference no. | 7353 |
The Lyttelton Gaol was a historic prison building and complex in Lyttelton, New Zealand.
History
[edit]Operating years
[edit]
The first buildings on the Lyttelton Gaol site began construction in 1851, with work carried out by William Chaney[2] and the design by Benjamin Mountfort.[3] The exact opening date of the gaol is not known.[4] The gaol's rules and regulations were first published in 1857, and the buildings were largely completed by 1861.[4] It was the first gaol in Canterbury.[5]
The building was cornered and faced with stone from Ōtamahua / Quail Island.[2] The main gaol building was surrounded by a high stone wall,[2] the top of which was embedded with broken glass and metal spikes.[6]
Convicts from the prison were used as hard-labour gangs doing public works construction, particularly reclamation and construction of wharves for the Port of Lyttelton,[6] as well as roads and retaining walls, many of which still exist today.[7][8] During the 1870s convicts were also put to work constructing Fort Jervois on Ripapa Island.[9] For a time it was the main prison in the South Island.[10]
The gaol was subject to continued criticism from officials like Edward Seager throughout the 1860s, mostly due to its small size and the resulting cramped conditions.[11] In part, this was due to the gaol also housing debtors and the mentally insane.[8] A newer and larger gaol was planned to be built in Addington, New Zealand, which opened in the 1870s.[12]
William Donald was the medical officer at the gaol during the 1860s.[13]
Seven men were hanged at Lyttelton Gaol for murder between 1868 and 1918.[14][8] Hangings were initially held outside the gaol, but moved within the walls in 1862.[15] A bell would toll to announce that a hanging was to occur, and the local children would climb the hills to have a view inside the prison grounds.[15]
Despite the formidable walls, a number of prisoners managed to escape from the gaol, mostly by absconding from the work gangs. The most famous of these escapees was James Mckenzie, who escaped custody twice.[16] The man convicted of fraud in the infamous "severed hand" case of 1885, Arthur Howard, was one of the few escapees to manage to scale the walls.[10]
Closure and demolition
[edit]
During the early 20th century, newer prisons at Addington and particularly the new Christchurch Prison at Paparua—gazetted 5 January 1915[17]—were housing the majority of inmates.[12][3] By 1921, Lyttelton gaol was empty.[12][18]
Demolition was a difficult challenge, as the prison walls were 2 feet (0.61 m) thick and made of solid concrete and stone masonry.[12] By the end of 1922, prisoners from Paparua were employed in deconstructing the prison.[12] Explosives had to be used to blast much of the structure apart.[19] The broken concrete was used for road metal as well as for reclamation projects at the port.[19]
After the demolition, the site was leased to the neighbouring Lyttelton Borough School for their playground.[20] The Upham Memorial Clock was installed on the site in 1953, to honour popular local doctor Charles Upham.[21][22] The high concrete walls of the gaol at the rear and on one side remain, and are archaeologically significant as one of the earliest uses of concrete in New Zealand.[3][8]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- Gee, David (1975). The Devil's Own Brigade: A History of the Lyttelton Gaol 1860–1920. Wellington: Millwood Press. OCLC 2913001.
- Rice, Geoffrey (2004). Lyttelton: Port and Town. Canterbury University Press. ISBN 1877257249. OCLC 64481354.
- Wilson, John (2007). City and Peninsula: The Historic Places of Christchurch and Banks Peninsula. Christchurch Civic Trust. ISBN 978-0-473-12239-3. OCLC 174092073.
Citations
[edit]- ↑ "Lyttelton Gaol Site", Heritage New Zealand, retrieved 10 October 2025
- 1 2 3 Gee 1975, p. 8.
- 1 2 3 Wilson 2007, p. 60.
- 1 2 Gee 1975, p. 10.
- ↑ Rice 2004, p. 24.
- 1 2 Gee 1975, p. 17.
- ↑ Gee 1975, p. 18,22.
- 1 2 3 4 Hickey, Megan (4 August 2016), "The Big House in a little town", Under Over Arch, retrieved 10 October 2025
- ↑ Gee 1975, p. 22.
- 1 2 Gee 1975, p. 71.
- ↑ Gee 1975, p. 30.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Gee 1975, p. 87.
- ↑ Gee 1975, p. 35.
- ↑ Gee 1975, pp. 47–48.
- 1 2 Gee 1975, p. 47.
- ↑ Gee 1975, p. 72.
- ↑ Gee 1975, p. 94.
- ↑ Rice 2004, pp. 87–88.
- 1 2 Gee 1975, p. 88.
- ↑ Rice 2004, pp. 88.
- ↑ "LYTTELTON NEWS", The Press, vol. LXXXIX, no. 27137, p. 2, 5 September 1953, retrieved 10 October 2025 – via PapersPast
- ↑ Wilson 2007, pp. 61.
