436 Transactions. 



briefly. The first, already referred to, was the " farewell breakfast " 

 tendered to Mr. J. R. Godley in the end of 1852. Thirty years later — that 

 is, in 1882 — the South Park was the scene of the Industrial Exhibition. 

 The large entrance-gates, presented by the promoters of the Exhibition, 

 Messrs. Joubert and Twopenny, now form the entrance at Hereford Street, 

 being erected there in 1883. In 1901 there was a great military review in 

 North Park, held on the occasion of the visit of Their Royal Highnesses the 

 Duke and Duchess of York. In Coronation year, 1902, a huge bonfire was 

 made in North Park, between the Armagh Street entrance and the lake. In 

 1905 the buildings for the International Exhibition were commenced and 

 land enclosed for grounds. These extended from the South Domain Bridge, 

 near the lake, to Carlton Bridge, and in the Park from a point commenc- 

 ing on Helmore Road. This ground consisted of a total of 116 acres — 

 86 acres of free ground, 5 acres of lake, and 25 acres of plantation. In 

 1910, at the time of Lord Kitchener's visit, a Volunteer camjj was held in 

 the North Park. On all these occasions there was of necessity a great 

 disturbance of the soil and destruction of vegetation. One of the condi- 

 tions laid down in each case by the Board was that the ground should be 

 restored to its natural state when the period of occupation was completed ; 

 but this was not possible in every case, and a few of the native plants 

 were lost for ever to the Park on more than one of these occasions. 



In 1897, the Diamond Jubilee year of Queen Victoria, the piece of 

 swamp near Armagh Street was formed into a lake and named Victoria 

 Lake after the Queen. It consisted when finished of 5 acres of water, and 

 was 3 ft. deep. The formation of such a lake had been suggested in 1874 

 by Mr. R. Wilkin, then a member of the Domains Board, but his proposal 

 had not been agreed to. In 1916 the smaller lake to the north was formed 

 as at present, the soil having been removed to improve the border on 

 Rolleston Avenue. There was some trouble at first as regards the water- 

 supply feeding Victoria Lake, but Mr. Young has made use of the 1906 

 Exhibition deep wells to feed both Victoria Lake and the smaller lakelet 

 beside it. 



From a botanical standpoint the destruction of this swamp is much to 

 be regretted, for it contained very many of the indigenous plants which 

 have since that time been lost to the neighbourhood of Christchurch. Such 

 a piece of swamp quite close to the centre of the town would be always 

 easy of access to the student, who now has to go much farther afield in 

 search of bog-plants. 



The Park was also used by Volunteer corps as a camping-ground ; and. 

 as the first records show, it has been used from the earliest days of the 

 settlement as a sports-ground. The cricket clubs were the first to make 

 use of it, and the South Park has been the scene of their activities from 

 1867. Later the polo club and the hockey clubs obtained the use of certain 

 portions of the same park. The North Park has been used by various 

 football clubs, golf clubs, and tennis clubs. The latter have laid down 

 permanent courts and erected pavilions of a more or less permanent 

 character. At first, however, the Boards granted the use of the Park only 

 on condition that no buildings of a permanent nature should be erected, and 

 more tlian one football club was requested to remove the structures it had 

 put up. In every way an effort was made to guard the reserve from an\' 

 attempt to appropriate any portion of it for the few : it was to be held in 

 trust for the public as a whole. It is to be hoped that the people of Christ- 

 church will in the future be equally as careful to preserve these public 

 ^rounds which the forethought of the earlv colonists set aside for their use. 



