DISTRICT PLAN – LISTED HERITAGE PLACE HERITAGE ASSESSMENT – STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE HERITAGE ITEM NUMBER 1134 DWELLING AND SETTING - 26 GODLEY QUAY, LYTTELTON PHOTOGRAPH: BRENDAN SMYTH 2014 HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE Historical and social values that demonstrate or are associated with: a particular person, group, organisation, institution, event, phase or activity; the continuity and/or change of a phase or activity; social, historical, traditional, economic, political or other patterns. 26 Godley Quay has high historical and social significance as one of the earliest surviving residences in Canterbury; for its connection with the earliest development of Lyttelton for the Canterbury Association settlers; for its supposed connection with Association Surveyor Joseph Thomas, and its confirmed connection with Association Solicitor Christopher Dampier, early runholder Thomas Parkinson, and prominent shipwright William Miller. The earliest portion of the dwelling is reputed to have been constructed by Canterbury Association Surveyor Captain Joseph Thomas. Thomas was appointed in 1848, and had identified a site for and begun survey work on the Canterbury Settlement by mid-1849. When Resident Agent John Godley arrived in April 1850, he found Thomas had exceeded his budget and work was suspended. On- going tensions between the men led to Thomas’s dismissal in January 1851. On Godley’s arrival, Thomas was living in one of two buildings on Oxford Street: either the agent’s office or the boat crew house. He was ordered by Godley to vacate his residence for a room in the store. Once the settlers arrived in Lyttelton in late 1850, it is recorded that Thomas departed for Sumner. Later he was reportedly living with fellow surveyor Edward Jollie before leaving Canterbury in February 1851. There is no record of Thomas having squatted in what would become Dampier’s Bay. The story persists however that Association solicitor Christopher Dampier acquired the house in the bay from Thomas soon after his arrival in November 1850. Dampier officially purchased Town Sections 240 and 241 from the Association at auction on 19 April 1851. By July of that year Dampier and his family were living in a house on the property they named Waicliffe. As one of the earliest residents in western Lyttelton, Dampier gave his name to Dampier’s Bay. Through the 1850s Dampier worked as a solicitor and served as a provincial councillor. In 1858 however he drew a large mortgage on his Lyttelton estate and moved to a new property he called Northlands at Saltwater Creek in North Canterbury. The mortgage document shows the footprint of the Godley Quay house, which is identical to the building as it exists today. After the Dampiers vacated Waicliffe, it was leased to George Buckley of the stock and station agency Dalgety, Buckley and Co. Buckley left the house in August 1861. In 1863 it was let to former wine and spirit merchant Stephen Gundry and his wife, who opened a boarding house there. Mrs Gundry died in early 1864 but Mr Gundry ran the boarding house on into 1865. In early 1867, Dampier’s property was offered for mortgagee auction but later withdrawn. In early 1868 it was offered again. In 1871 the mortgage was foreclosed upon, and mortgagee Thomas Hodgson Parkinson became the owner of the property. Thomas Parkinson arrived in Canterbury in 1852 and became the overseer for Robert Heaton Rhodes on Kaituna Station. Later he bought a large portion of the station from Rhodes, and built a large house in c.1880 known as Park Hill. When he died in 1883 however, it was at his house in Dampier’s Bay. After Parkinson’s death, the house remained in and appears to have been periodically occupied by family members to the turn of the century. The property was subdivided in 1900 and the house was sold to labourer Charles Warren and his wife Winifred. In 1923 the property was purchased by master shipwright William Alexander Miller and his wife Mary. The substantial shipwright business of J. Miller Ltd, operated by members of the Miller family, was based in Godley Quay. William’s brother, Malcolm James, lived at nearby Lochranza and the Miller family had significant property holdings across Lyttelton. William died in 1946; the property was sold in 1952. It has had many owners in the intervening half century. CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE Cultural and spiritual values that demonstrate or are associated with the distinctive characteristics of a way of life, philosophy, tradition, religion, or other belief, including: the symbolic or commemorative value of the place; significance to Tangata Whenua; and/or associations with an identifiable group and esteemed by this group for its cultural values. 26 Godley Quay has cultural significance for the capacity it has to illustrate the lifestyle of a member of the Canterbury Settlement’s governing elite at the very beginning of the colonial period. Godley Quay, and more generally the area originally known as Dampier’s Bay, was considered the exclusive residential area of the port town through until the mid twentieth century. ARCHITECTURAL AND AESTHETIC SIGNIFICANCE Architectural and aesthetic values that demonstrate or are associated with: a particular style, period or designer, design values, form, scale, colour, texture and material of the place. 26 Godley Quay has architectural and aesthetic significance as an early colonial dwelling, dating from Lyttelton’s earliest days. This is most evident in the two-storey northern section of the house, which is likely to be the earliest part of the building (c.1851). This wing features narrow casement windows with hoods, eaves brackets, and an upper storey partially clad in board-and-batten and crowned with a wrought iron finial. The cottage was significantly altered at later dates - most notably in the mid 1920s after William Miller had purchased the property. Many windows were replaced at this time, and the verandah was enclosed. As a consequence much of the house appears superficially to date from this later period. TECHNOLOGICAL AND CRAFTSMANSHIP SIGNIFICANCE Technological and craftsmanship values that demonstrate or are associated with: the nature and use of materials, finishes and/or technological or constructional methods which were innovative, or of notable quality for the period. 26 Godley Quay has technological and craftsmanship significance for the capacity it has to reveal materials, finishes and constructional methods characteristic of the 1850s. CONTEXTUAL SIGNIFICANCE Contextual values that demonstrate or are associated with: a relationship to the environment (constructed and natural), a landscape, setting, group, precinct or streetscape; a degree of consistency in terms of type, scale, form, materials, texture, colour, style and/or detail; recognised landmarks and landscape which are recognised and contribute to the unique identity of the environment. 26 Godley Quay has contextual significance for the contribution it makes to the historic residential area of Godley Quay and more broadly, the domestic heritage of Lyttelton. West Lyttelton served as Lyttelton’s premier residential area for a century from settlement. Consequently there are a number of superior residences in the area, dating from the 1850s to the 1930s. Heritage-listed homes in the immediate neighbourhood include 16 Godley Quay (Dalcroy House, 1866), 14 Godley Quay (Lochranza, 1892) and 6 Godley Quay (c.1852). The low profile of 26 Godley Quay and its elevated location ensure that it has little landmark significance. The setting of the dwelling is its immediate parcel. This is a large essentially rectangular section parallel to Godley Quay. The dwelling is located on a terrace towards the back of the section and is oriented roughly north-south, at an angle to the street. The section slopes away steeply in front of the house down to Godley Quay, where a low stone retaining wall borders the footpath. Access is provided by a flight of steps. The house was originally situated on a very large section but subdivision, particularly in the early twentieth 20th century, reduced the size of the property so that the north, south and west boundaries are now close to the house. ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE Archaeological or scientific values that demonstrate or are associated with: the potential to provide information through physical or scientific evidence an understanding about social historical, cultural, spiritual, technological or other values of past events, activities, structures or people. 26 Godley Quay and its setting are of archaeological significance because they have the potential to provide archaeological evidence relating to past building construction methods and materials, and human activity on the site, including that which occurred prior to 1900. The earliest part of the house dates conclusively from 1851, with a small possibility of an earlier provenance. ASSESSMENT STATEMENT 26 Godley Quay has overall heritage significance to the Christchurch district including Banks Peninsula. The dwelling has high historical and social significance as one of the earliest surviving residences in Canterbury, for its association with Canterbury Association solicitor Christopher Dampier, and later owners runholder Thomas Parkinson and prominent shipwright William Miller. It also has possible connections with Association Surveyor Captain Thomas. The dwelling has cultural significance for the capacity it has to illustrate the lifestyle of settlers in early colonial Lyttelton. The dwelling has architectural and aesthetic significance as an early colonial dwelling, although considerably modified in the early twentieth century. The dwelling has technological and craftsmanship significance for the capacity of the earlier portions of the dwelling to reveal materials, finishes and constructional methods characteristic of the 1850s. The dwelling has contextual significance in relation to the historic streetscapes of Godley Quay and more broadly West Lyttelton, a suburban area which contained the homes of many of Lyttelton’s more prosperous citizens from settlement through to the mid twentieth century. The house is also a contributor to Lyttelton’s extensive colonial domestic heritage.