We went on a Heritage Festival tour of McLean’s Mansion this morning. Having organised a Festival event myself I have some appreciation of what’s involved. This one was many times more complex. Our booking was for 10.20am. We were asked to arrive half an hour beforehand, which we duly did, and registered. We were given a copy of the Site Emergency Evacuation Plan, then obliged to wait for half an hour. Luckily there were chairs to sit on. We were able to wander around part of the gardens and to realise what a tremendous amount of work will be needed to restore and maintain them.
McLean’s Mansion
At this stage my trusty camera (only ten years old) refused to work. Luckily I had my cellphone, but hadn’t used its camera for six months and it took me a while to remember just how to do it. Unfortunately the couple of shots I took inside the house were too hurried and came out blurry.
At the beginning of our tour we were given hard hats and hi-vis vests – the third time I’ve worn these in recent weeks. The guide then told a woman with a larger camera that she would need to leave that with a staff member outside the house. When I queried whether any photos were allowed he replied that there was no problem with photos, but in an emergency someone might be inclined to focus on saving the camera around their neck rather than exiting quickly. This seemed absurd to me but I refrained from pointing out that I was carrying a handbag at least as large as her camera (and I’d want to save it).
Our group of 16 was split in two with different guides for the ground and first floor. It was amazing to see the earthquake and vandal damage, and how much has already been done to make the house safe to enter.
Graffiti inside the building
I have memories of the building from the 1950s and late 1980s. In the earthquake thick brick internal walls collapsed completely, but because parts were reinforced with iron, much of the building’s integrity was maintained. Built in 1900 it is New Zealand’s largest heritage wooden residential building and listed as Heritage Category 1. It’s wonderful to know that it should eventually be restored as a centre for art, music, and community events, especially when Christchurch has lost so much heritage. With 20 half-hour tours today and more tomorrow and Monday, the volunteers will be busy! Of course the cost of restoration is tremendous, donations are required, and they are selling merchandise to raise funds. Stephen assisted by buying a T-shirt.
Souvenir T-shirt
It’s great the Mansion will be saved
providing heritage that’s craved
Ruth's Reflections 
my what a building… has to be saved for future generations! Love these old NZ buildings.. NZ has some lovely old buildings… my cottage is a Heritage one, Historic Places know off it.. built 1880 near Carterton.. have the Deeds from the start… never dreamt of owning a old cottage especially a Heritage one..
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Adele, how wonderful that you have a heritage cottage. We also have our title deeds, but no record of when our cottage was built. We understood it was 1878, but a historian librarian recently showed me a map from 1877 that showed our cottage. However it is not considered heritage as there have been so many changes over the years.
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This building is near the school I went to, St Mary’s College (no longer there). Interestingly, the link provided no physical address for it – I was looking to see if I my memory was correct – and I had to drill down further to its Facebook page to find it.
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Someone on my Facebook page asked me for the address too. I suspect the Trust thinks it’s such a landmark everyone will know it. It’s a great asset to the central city (in Manchester Street, just south of Bealey Avenue).
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