Willow Street in the Central City, Christchurch

Willow Street in the Central City – First mentioned in The Press in 1880 when the Christchurch City Council called for tenders for its “forming and shingling”. First appears in street directories in 1885.A small amount of information on the library website. The name Willow was most likely from willows trees along the riverbank. Entries on Papers Past were mostly birth and death notices. The street had channelling work completed in 1880 and in 1885 the residents requested a street lamp. This street was prone to flooding as flooding is mentioned in 1883, 1886 and 1887. In 1888 at a special purpose meeting of the council it was agreed to take over Willow St and nearby Avon St as public streets. A Mr Hurley lived in Willow St in 1922 which is interesting as there is a street called Hurley St nearby. Papers Past had an interesting article in May 1928 about Christchurch in 1868, It mentioned that this area was the original reserve for the Botanic Gardens and is now being built upon. The article said that Willow St, Brightlings Lane, Avon St, Nova Place, Bangor St and Rees St were all built on the original reserve. The same article mentions that the historic site The Bricks is in this area. The article also said that William Wilson of The Bricks cultivated what was known as the Botanical Garden Reserve here. There were 20 acres under cultivation and William Wilson is credited with raising the first Australian trees for the settlement here. He also cultivated fruit trees and is believed to have had a bee hive. This bee hive is also believed to have been the first in the settlement. The reserve was a favorite resort for Christchurch residents in the summer. This is a tiny street near the river and runs off the area of Oxford Tce that is in the Red Zone. I believe that it is in the area called the Avon Loop and had a thriving community here. There are obviously no houses here any longer as it is in the Red Zone. I found it slightly creepy here when walking the street as there was a man in the bushes watching me. Note I still walked the street as I don’t scare easily but I wouldn’t walk here in the dark.