In 1897, Jane Deans made the hard choice of having the “accepted” city’s oldest building demolished due to it being a hazard.
When the Deans brothers, William and John, and the Manson and Gebbie families arrived on the Port Cooper (Canterbury) Plains in 1843, Samuel Manson quickly erected a barn-like building where they could all live while other farm buildings were established – such as the Deans Cottage.
What was unusual about this barn was that it was held together by wooden nails as what was intended to be used was left behind in Wellington by mistake.
On Kahu Road, just down from the entry to Riccarton House sits a memorial plaque and an Oak Tree that was planted by Jane Deans herself so we don’t forget the site of the city’s first building.
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* Image courtesy of the Canterbury Public Library – http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/ – File Reference CCL PhotoCD 4, IMG0081
