Canterbury Tales Revisited - AL Bonus (Canterbury) Mystery Cache

Located at the intersection of Victoria Street and Montreal Street.

Also known as the Victoria Clock Tower, this volcanic stone and limestone structure has ornate wrought iron work with coloured glass around part of the tower and four clock faces. 

The tower has two white marble plaques and one bronze plaque set on stone work above arches. The upper part of the structure was designed by Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort and constructed in 1859 in England. 

Originally intended to have been incorporated into the Canterbury Provincial Council buildings complex, it was too heavy for its intended site. In 1897 the structure was incorporated into a memorial clock tower for the 60th Jubilee of Queen Victoria's Reign, with a stone base at the intersection of High, Lichfield and Manchester Streets.

The tower was relocated due to traffic volumes, and erected on its present site in Victoria Street in 1930.

The clock stopped and the finial bent with the force of the earthquakes. The tower suffered structural and stonework damage which has now been repaired and strengthened.

4 November 1861
To His Honor the Superintendent of Canterbury

We the undersigned inhabitants of that part of the City of Christchurch adjacent to the College and also on the District of Riccarton beg to bring your Honor’s attention to the inconvenience and delay to which we are subjected in passing on horseback from the one District to the other from the want of a bridge passable by horses over that part of the River Avon which separates Antigua Street from Hagley Park.

Your memorialists are informed that the expense of adapting the foot bridge situated near the College for horse traffic would be inconsiderable. We therefore pray that your honor would consent to these necessary alterations and instruct the Provincial Engineer to carry out the same.

The Albert Edward Oak, the oldest tree in the Botanical Gardens.

This tree was planted on the 9th July 1863 in celebration of the marriage of Prince Albert to Princess Alexandra of Denmark. This tree is now regarded to be the beginning of the gardens that we know today.

Prior to 1863, the gardens were mainly wetlands and sand dunes, believe it or not. I can’t imagine what it took to give us the garden’s that was to “be reserved for ever as a public park, and to be open for the recreation and enjoyment of the public” – as it was written in 1855.

The Albert Edward Oak can be found south west of the Archery Lawn, close to the Avon.

The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament (popularly known as the Christchurch Basilica) is located in the city centre of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch and seat of the Bishop of Christchurch.

Designed by architect Francis Petre. On 7 April 1983, the building was registered as a Category I heritage item by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, with the registration number 47. It is regarded as an outstanding example of church architecture in Australasia, and is regarded as Petre's best design.

The cathedral was closed after the 4 September 2010 Canterbury earthquake. The February 2011 Christchurch earthquake collapsed the two bell towers at the front of the building and destabilised the dome. The dome was removed and the rear of the cathedral was demolished.