Somerfield St in Somerfield – Named because it runs through the suburb of Somerfield which, in turn, is named after Somerfield House near Maidstone, Kent, England. Somerfield House was the birthplace of Edward Brenchley Bishop (1811-1887), chairman of the Town Council in 1866 and mayor of Christchurch 1872- 1873. He and his younger brother Frederick Augustus Bishop (1818-1894) owned 100 acres (40 hectares) on the Heathcote River. They appear on the electoral roll for the district of Christchurch in 1853 as the owners of Somerfield Farm. First mentioned in The Press in 1901. First appears in street directories in 1902.
A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Note a James Freeman owned the property Somerfield when it was sold off in 1900. James Freeman owned tearooms on High St and he also owned animals including chickens. His house was destroyed by fire in 1900 and apparently he was so disheartened that he decided to sell the property and the land. The land was subdivided and in 1903 there were lots of ads for sections. James Freeman can’t have sold all the land as in 1924 he was selling the shops and hall that he owned on the Somerfield St and Colombo St corner. The Barrington St end of Somerfield St was owned by a Mr Clark and I don’t know if he sold it as one big block of land in 1898 or if he was the one who subdivided the land and was selling off sections in a subdivision called Beckenham Estate. Lots of information on Papers Past and apart from the usual birth and death notices it was a busy street. Between 1903 when the sections were being sold and 1920 there were several entries regarding the tramline. Mr Cummings had a poultry farm which was interesting as James Freeman also had poultry before he sold up. In 1908 the Education Dept were looking at 3 sites for the South Spreydon School. Choices were between the site where it ended up being built, a section opposite Baretta St or on Heathcote Stream. I checked old maps and couldn’t find a street with the name Heathcote Stream. The school had it’s official opening in October 1911 and by this time they were calling it Somerfield Street School. I was amused by a letter to the editor in January 1912 where someone was complaining that the doors opened the wrong way. She thought that they should open outwards rather than inwards.
In April 1913 the new Beckenham Hall that was owned by James Freeman was opened by the mayor of Spreydon. It was mostly known as Beckenham Hall but occasionally was referred to as Somerfield St Hall. The writers to the editor were fairly active about the hall as at least one writer objected to it being called Beckenham Hall as it wasn’t in Beckenham. The hall was close to the Strickland St / Colombo St end of Somerfield St and these days the shops in this area are called the Beckenham shops. There was one mention in 1911 of the plans for the Somerfield Street Coronation Bath being approved on the condition that when emptying the water from the bath into the Somerfield St Channel that it should cause no nuisance. I don’t know if they ever got built but the pool at the school was mentioned a few times.
Note there were lots of entries about the hall as it was used for so many events plus the scouts used it.
The year 1920 had several entries as Mr H Williams moved into the street with his new poultry farm. There was a meeting at the hall to discuss the advantages of joining Greater Christchurch. At this stage they were still Spreydon Borough. There was also a request for a footpath to go from Somerfield St to the cemetery. This subject will be covered under another street but they did eventually get their lane. In 1925 there was an outbreak of polio in the street mostly in children. There were the usual complaints about drainage issues and the condition of the street.
We get to the 1930s and in 1932 the new Methodist Sunday School Rooms were opened. In 1938 there was a fire in a hedge of the government property on the corner of Somerfield St and Duncan St ( Studholme St). I didn’t find out what sort of government property was on the street. There must have been high winds in 1949 as a nor west gale caused a lot of damage in Christchurch and Mr Williams had his chicken coops destroyed by the winds. The chickens weren’t very happy about this and many of them ended up being stuck high up in trees and needed to be rescued.
There didn’t seem to be too much drama from 1950 onwards, the usual birth and death notices plus engagement notices. Lots of ads.
When I walked this street I started at the Strickland St end where there are shops plus a big building which has a business in it. This is where the Beckenham Hall would have been but that is long gone. Apparently Beckenham Hall was a handsome brick building. Then it is lots of houses and there are still many houses dating from 1905 to 1925 on this street. Many of them are still lovely and well looked after. Just past Selwyn St there is a house that you need sunglasses to look at. The house is bright orange and it now has a bright green fence in front of it. I frequently drive past as I have friends on Somerfield St and I blink every time. There is Somerfield School plus a childcare business. At the Barrington St end there are more shops including a hairdresser where my neighbour Ai works. There is still a church hall at this end as well. The houses here cover every decade with many from the 1990s.The ones from the 1990s are mostly behind the older houses as it was a big thing in the 1990s to subdivide and built at the back of your property. I hope that the older houses will stay as they are too nice to be demolished.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 