Bell’s Creek in Christchurch

Bell’s Creek was first mentioned in Papers Past in 1864 but most entries started from 1870 when there were complaints about it. The creek frequently flooded because it was choked up with weeds. In 1884 a bridge over the creek was mentioned. In 1900 a William Griffin was charged with discharging sewage into the creek which was described as a natural watercourse. There was possibly more than one bridge across the creek with one at Randolph Street and another at Aldwins Road. In the 1890s the state of the culverts were described as dangerous. They were wooden culverts until they were replaced with concrete ones in 1910. In many places there was talk of covering the creek and in 1925 the cost of covering it in Monica Park was discussed. In 1924 it was proposed that a weir be built and they were still talking about a weir in the 1930s. The bridge over it at Richardson Tce was widened in 1913. The Gas Company on Moorhouse Ave was fined for discharging in the creek in the 1970s and this pollution was carried by the Heathcote River as far as the Estuary. The creek was mentioned on Papers Past in connection with Bass Street and Edmonds Street so I went looking at maps. The best map was from 1912 and it shows the creek starting near Fitzgerald Ave and wiggling it’s way to the Heathcote River by Richardson Tce. A 1963 map that was a replica of an older map shows the creek as starting near some ponds and sandhills near Fitzgerald Ave. I did find an entry on Papers Past that mentioned it starting at a lagoon. Trying to compare this map with a modern map the creek possibly started near Beverley Park. I couldn’t find any maps that showed it crossing Moorhouse Ave. I think that the creek was named after John Terras Bell who owned several blocks of land in Christchurch and he was a land agent. Over the years the creek has been diverted and straightened and flows through concrete culverts now.