Albion Square

About

Albion Square was once the hub of the city and site of government buildings, as outlined on the information panel under the trees at the car park entrance.

History

Origination of the name and location

Albion Square gets its name from the Roman for Britain, based on the Latin word for white (think albino). It was also named as such on account of the White Cliffs of Dover.

Albion was a popular name with the settlers, who also named Albion Wharf for a beached ship that wealthy merchant and benefactor Thomas Cawthron used as a store and offices.

In its early days Albion Square extended to Collingwood and Tasman Streets. In 1878 the Tasman Street end became the Queens Gardens, and the western end was gradually sold off to businesses.

Construction

In 1852 Provincial Government was introduced and Nelson was one of six provinces throughout New Zealand with its own mini-parliament. The first Nelson Provincial Council was elected in 1853, and met in the Court House. Seven years later the local newspaper, the Examiner, proposed a quadrangle for the Council Chambers and other official buildings, which was to become Albion Square.

Architect Maxwell Bury came up with a plan, selected by the council, for an imposing building in the Jacobean style of an English country house, but in wood.

The building was finished 20 months later at a cost of £9,000, a huge sum for a community of 5,000 people. There was no official opening when the Provincial Council started using the building in 1861.

Demolition and time capsule

The Provincial Government Building was the centre of Nelson’s civic life for one hundred years. It was also the venue for events from balls to poultry shows. 

By the late 1960s, when it housed central government departments, it was seriously run down, leaky and fragile. The door of the Magistrates Court had a notice on it ‘Do not slam’ - a good bang would have resulted in collapse.

A  time capsule buried under the foundation stone was retrieved in 1969 when the building was demolished. It held newspapers of the day, Pakawau coal, Aorere gold, copper ore, flax from McGlashen’s mill in Waimea Road, cloth from Blick’s mill up the Brook, coins and the 1859 Lucas Directory.

Sights to see

The old brick building near the back of The Suter was used as an explosives' magazine from 1861.

The Monro Building, now home to the Department of Conservation and other government offices is named for early settler Sir David Monro, a leading Nelson conservative.

Engine house

This ornate wooden garage was built in 1866 to match the Provincial Buildings. It was used for the fire engine for a short time, but its claim to fame dates from the 1866 Maungatapu murders. The bodies of the victims were held there until they could be buried; brought down the Maitai by relays of volunteers until they reached the dray road, and from there to the Government Buildings.  The next day (Saturday June 30th)  thousands of people viewed the bodies in the fire engine house.

Government School

Across the road from Albion Square in Bridge Street, the board and batten building, now used by the Christchurch College of Education, was once the Hardy Street Girl's School. It was built about 1860 and was used until 1896 when a bigger school replaced it. It was taken over by the Nelson Centre Board of Education, who used it until 1927 when the Public Works Department moved in. The building returned to educational use when Nelson Polytechnic (now NMIT) took it over in 1988.

Trout hatchery

The hexagonal building near the old Technical School (now part of NMIT) was erected in 1867 as a fish hatchery. Spurred by settlers seeking to recreate the trout fisheries of 'home' the Nelson Acclimatisation Society hatched millions of fish here, right through until 1946.

The first fish were hatched from ova imported from Australia with three ponds fed by water from the Campbell’s Mill lead from the Brook Stream – this remains as a little stream in the ferny section of the Queens Gardens. The fish hatchery was successful and the first fishing licenses were issued ten years later in 1877, with streams right round the province populated from the little octagonal building over the next 70 years.

Post box

On the footpath outside the old school is an iron post box, dating from 1863 and still in use. Initially the concept was for pillarboxes to be installed at country crossroads, but by the time they were imported they went to two city locations. The other used to be outside Cock & Co (now Fresh FM), is now in the collection of  the Tasman Bays Heritage Trust and will be installed at Town Acre 445 (the new museum).

Test chain

On the eastern side of the  college of education building are the remains of a ‘standard test chain’ used by surveyors to check that the links of their chain (or steel and invar tape) hadn't been stretched beyond the correct length of 22 yards by hard use in the bush and back country. The other end of the chain is under the trees on the Bridge Street boundary of Albion Square.

The standard test chain was brought to Nelson by the New Zealand Company Survey party in 1841 and laid down soon after.

Trees

Albion Square has several notable trees including a Cork Oak planted in 1857, an English Yew, a row of Wellingtonia (Sequoidendron gigantum), and a Bhutan Pine.

Location

Albion Square can be found on the south side of Bridge Street just east of Collingwood Street across from the primary building for the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology.

For more information

For more information on heritage walks and heritage sites please contact Arts and Heritage Team Leader.