Nelson Cathedral and Church Hill

The Christ Church Cathedral at the top of the Church Steps. From Church Hill, the Christ Church Cathedral overlooks the city business district. Built mainly of Takaka marble, the cathedral is set in a garden with many outstanding trees.

The Cathedral is open to visitors, and interpretation panels tell more of the history. Look for the remnant of Fort Arthur, built after the Wairau affray in 1843. It was named after Captain Arthur Wakefield, the settlement’s leader and one of 22 settlers who lost their lives at the Wairau in retaliation for the killing of the famous Māori chief Te Rauparaha’s daughter.

'1942' war memorial plaque at base of Church Steps.

The Church Steps

The first steps on this site were built of wood in 1858. In 1913, wealthy Nelson merchant Thomas Cawthron donated £1,800 to build the Church Steps, made from New Zealand’s only construction granite, quarried from Tonga Bay in what is now the Abel Tasman National Park. They were designed by Arthur Reynolds Griffin. In 1942 the sculpted marble Centennial Memorial was added on the first landing.

Church Hill

Church Hill is rich in the history of Nelson. The M&#257ori name for the hill is Pikimai (climb up here) and had been the site of a pa. Newly-arrived immigrants were housed there, as was the Post Office, the New Zealand Company's storerooms and barracks, the Examiner offices, the courthouse, and the hospital tent.

There has been a church on the site since 1851. The present cathedral is the third building, replacing an earlier wooden cathedral, demolished as an earthquake risk in 1925.

Notable trees on the hill include the Hoop pine, Himalayan Cedar, Californian Redwood, a group of Turkey Oak and a Pin Oak.