Whitewash Head Road in the suburbs of Scarborough and Sumner, Christchurch

Whitewash Head Rd – Named because the droppings from the seabirds have made the cliffs white. The need for a road to Whitewash Head was discussed by the Sumner Borough Council in 1901. First appears in street directories in 1950.A small amount of information from the library website. If searching Papers Past with the words Whitewash Head expect lots of entries involving bodies on rocks. I found the same report from the Sumner Borough Council dated 1901. There was also discussion in 1892 about formation of a road but that possibly meant the road that is now currently Taylors Mistake Rd. In 1895 there was discussion of a footpath that was 8 foot wide to be created. Mr S L Bell cut two zig zag paths on the hill up to Whitewash Head so that people could get good views of Sumner and the surrounding area. S L Bell was responsible for building Sumner Baths known as Bell’s Baths which were on the beach underneath Whitewash Head. It is noted in Papers Past that two houses were being erected on Whitewash Head in 1913.There are only 21 houses here and there is one dated from 1920 and a couple from 1930 but most are much later. It is a very narrow road with practically no parking available. The houses here have fantastic views.