Basin Reserve Historic Area Sussex Street, Buckle Street, Ellice Street
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APPENDIX 1 NZ Historic Places Trust Registration report for the Basin Reserve Historic Area pursuant to the Historic Places Act 1993.1 Basin Reserve Historic Area Sussex Street, Buckle Street, Ellice Street, Dufferin Street and Rugby Street, WELLINGTON Basin Reserve Historic Area. Photographed by Anika Klee 14/05/2009. Copyright NZ Historic Places Trust Photographed by Anika Klee 14/05/2009. Copyright NZ Historic Places Trust Registration Type Historic Area 1 Copied from the NZ Historic Places Trust website as at 13 December 2013. 1227496_1 Register Number 7441 Date Registered 10-Dec-1998 Legal Description Lots 1 and 2 DP 90475 (WN58A/615 and WN58A/616), Wellington Land District. Extent of Registration Extent includes the land described as Lots 1 and 2 DP 90475 (WN58A/615 and WN58A/616), Wellington Land District and the associated buildings, structures and sites thereon. Items include: Museum stand, R.A. Vance Stand, Groundman's Shed, Playing Oval & Picket Fence, Reid & Dempster Gates, Fmr Midland St Pats Cricket Clubrooms, Main Fence, William Wakefield Fountain,Toilets, Scoreboard, Play Area, Light Towers(3), Bank City/District Council Wellington City Region Wellington Region Summary The following text is from the original Historic Area Assessment Under Section 23 Criteria report presented to the Board Dec 1998: The Basin Reserve Historic Area occupies an oval, formerly a rectangle, surrounded by the four streets which once formed Sussex Square - Buckle/Ellice, Dufferin, Sussex and Rugby Streets. In addition three main traffic arteries - Kent and Cambridge Terraces, Adelaide Road and Mt Victoria Tunnel - intersect with the Basin Reserve on the north, south and east sides of the ground respectively. As an oval, the ground is oriented north-south with the cricket pitch block aligned along that axis. The R.A. Vance stand, the dominant feature of the ground, is, in a general sense, end on to the pitches. A long elevated bank defines the eastern edge of the ground and sits 1227496_1 2 between the exterior fence and the perimeter of the playing surface. The playing surface is defined by a picket fence. Around the ground are scattered a number of buildings and structures. Historical Significance The following text is from the original Historic Area Assessment Under Section 23 Criteria report presented to the Board Dec 1998: HISTORICAL: The Basin Reserve was first surveyed in 1840 for possible use as an enclosed shipping basin. That option was closed off when earthquakes lifted the land and in 1857 it was reserved for recreational purposes. Work began on draining it fully in 1863 and the first large-scale games were held that decade, with cricketers and the Caledonian Games Committee taking the leading roles. Considerable improvements were made during the 1880s. since then many structures and features have been added to the grounds. The Basin has been protected from encroachment by traffic and has for 130 years been a major venue for international, national and local cricket, as well as other recreational and cultural purposes. The HP Act 1993 requires an historic area to meet three criteria: (a) Contains an inter-related group of historic places: The Basin Reserve has been little altered since it was set aside as a recreational reserve in 1857 and drained by prison labour early the following decade. The principal alterations have been changes to the fences, boundaries and to buildings, but these have made only relatively minor changes to the overall shape of the grounds themselves. Indeed, one of the recurring features of the Basin Reserve's history has been the successful attempts by its supporters to resist pressure for making the grounds a thoroughfare for traffic. The grounds contains a diverse range of inter-related buildings, structures and features. Such is the historic associations of the grounds that some structures are already registered by the Trust and one now functions as a cricket museum. (b) Forms part of the historical and cultural heritage of New Zealand: The Basin Reserve is one of New Zealand's most historic sporting grounds. Originally projected as the site for an enclosed basin for shipping until an earthquake lifted the land, the reserve has been used for the last 130 years as the venue for international, national and local sporting events. Although used for a 1227496_1 3 variety of sporting and cultural events, the Basin is most closely associated with cricket. (c) Lies within the territorial limits of New Zealand: Established. Historical Significance The Basin Reserve is one of the country's longest serving recreational grounds. It has been used for a vast array of purposes over the years, of which athletics, soccer, softball, marching, pipe band contests and cycling are just a small number. In that sense it has been the city's most valuable public reserve. It is with cricket that the ground is most closely associated. The Basin Reserve is arguably New Zealand's most significant cricket ground. It is the oldest purpose-formed and longest serving test cricket venue in New Zealand and one of the oldest cricket grounds in the world. Only a handful of venues in England and Australia are older. Cricket is arguably the oldest international team sport in the modern world and was first played in New Zealand in the 1830s. In 1875, when the Wellington Cricket Association was formed, there were only nine English cricket counties in existence. Primarily however it has been the home of Wellington cricket. Cricket has long been New Zealand's national summer sport and Wellington was the first province to form a cricket association. The Basin Reserve hosted its first cricket match in 1866, its first first-class game in 1876, and its first test match in the 1929/30 season. The Basin Reserve has long been internationally recognised as a fine test cricket venue. To this point, 32 test matches have been held there and it has been the scene of some of the most remarkable events in the history of the game in New Zealand. Of those many events probably the most significant were New Zealand's first test victory over England in 1978, the (then) world record test batting partnership of Martin Crowe and Andrew Jones against Sri Lanka in 1991, John Reid's then world record of 16 sixes in 1962, and test victories by New Zealand over England, India (2), Sri Lanka, Australia, Zimbabwe and West Indies. There have also been 15 drawn tests and 10 losses. In the years since 1866, thousands of cricket games have been played at the Basin Reserve, from club to first-class fixtures, one-day games and test matches. The Basin Reserve has hosted 329 first class 1227496_1 4 and international matches, the most (by two from Lancaster Park) by any ground in New Zealand. Early next year the Basin Reserve will become one of the only grounds outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground to host two tests in the same season in the 20th century. The site also has historical significance for the early plans to form it into an inner harbour. The great natural phenomenon of the 1855 earthquake removed that opportunity but created a relatively level, open area and its potential as a playing field was quickly recognised, perhaps without being as swiftly realised. Since it was first used by sporting organisations the Basin Reserve has continually been the subject of efforts to improve facilities. Particular events also add to the ground's great historical significance. Among those are the first public display of electricity in New Zealand in 1879, balloonist and parachutist Captain Lorraine's display in 1899 and the events of the 1913 Waterside Strike in adjacent Buckle St. Individual buildings within the historic area have considerable significance. The picturesque Groundsman's Shed is now the oldest building associated with the Basin Reserve and an important link with earlier days in the ground's development. The old pavilion was built in 1924-25 and has been a familiar Basin Reserve landmark. It has been used for 60 years as team changing rooms, clubrooms, storage, offices and ground entry, and more latterly as the home of the Cricket Museum. The oldest structure of all associated with the Basin Reserve is the memorial to the man regarded by some as the founding father of Wellington, William Wakefield. It is a consistent feature in photographs of the ground taken from the early 1880s onwards until it was moved outside the ground when the present fence was built in 1917. The building of the bank in 1980-81 finally obliterated the view of the memorial altogether. The memorial is probably the first public monument built in Wellington to recognise the achievements of a locally significant citizen. Physical Significance The following text is from the original Historic Area Assessment Under Section 23 Criteria report presented to the Board Dec 1998: 1227496_1 5 ARCHITECTURAL: The Basin Reserve is made up of a number of structures that ring the perimeter of the playing arena. Most of these structures were built during the 1979-81 renovations of the ground and have relatively little significance as heritage buildings, although the R.A. Vance Stand is a fine example of a modern sporting facility. Four buildings/structures of considerable physical significance remain. The most substantial of these is the Museum Stand, designed and built by the City Engineer's Department of the WCC. It remains in largely original condition, and in its main entrance, vestibule, stairs, and reception room, has some very fine spaces. It also contains the Edward Dixon clock, a relic from the Caledonian Stand, the previous occupier of the site. The oldest structure associated with the ground is the Wakefield Memorial.