Sydenham, New Zealand

Sydenham Heritage Church after demolition, with the Post Office in the background

While the Sydenham area had seen development from the earliest days of European settlement in Christchurch, it was originally split between the Heathcote and Spreydon road districts instead of being a locality of its own right. The name Sydenham originally referred only to "Sydenham House", a crockery and china shop in the area so named by its owner, Charles Prince, after the north-west Kent town of Sydenham, which is now a London suburb within the London Borough of Lewisham.[3][4] At a meeting regarding the formation of a borough council for the area, brought on by growth in the area, surveyor and future mayor Charles Allison advocated for the area to be named Sydenham, after the shop.[5] The name was agreed upon, and Sydenham Borough Council came into existence in 1876. The first council and its mayor, George Booth, were elected in 1877.[6] The population of the borough around this time was between five and six thousand, a number which doubled by the end of the 19th century, making it among the largest boroughs in New Zealand at the time.[7]

Sydenham quickly flourished as a suburb. By 1902, the population of the suburb had more than doubled since its formation, making it the largest borough in New Zealand.[6] It had roughly 2500 buildings with a combined value of roughly one million pounds, 26 miles (42 km) of roads, and 95 gas lamps for street lighting. On 31 March 1903, the borough amalgamated with the City of Christchurch and became a suburb. At that time Sydenham already had its own swimming-baths, fire-engine, cemetery and recreation grounds.[8]

Entrance to Sydenham in December 2011, with the Heritage Church and the Post Office after demolition

Sydenham is located near the centre of Christchurch, and is separated from the central city by the South Island Main Trunk Railway and Moorhouse Avenue. State Highway 76 runs through the middle of Sydenham before connecting to the Christchurch Southern Motorway in the neighbouring suburb of Spreydon to the west. A number of suburbs are located to the south of Sydenham at the base of the Port Hills, including Somerfield, Beckenham and Cashmere. To the east, Sydenham is separated from neighbouring St Martins by the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River, and from Waltham by Waltham Road.

Sydenham has a number of heritage buildings registered by Heritage New Zealand, with some already lost or to be lost due to the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Woolstore in Durham Street is the only Category I heritage building.[12] Coming from the south, the Sydenham Post Office[13] and the Sydenham Heritage Church formed an entry into the strip shopping area along Colombo Street, but the church was controversially demolished shortly after the February earthquake.[14]

Nazareth House Chapel is located west of Sydenham Park and belongs to a retirement village.[15] Blackheath Place are residential brick terrace houses that are rather uncommon in New Zealand.[16] Three registered cottages are located in Shelley and Tennyson Streets.[17][18][19]

This historic cottage is typical of settler housing in Sydenham Christchurch. It was built in 1876 from totara.

Sydenham Park is public open space that also acts as the home ground for Sydenham Cricket Club, Sydenham Hockey Club and Sydenham Rugby Club. All three clubs have provided players for their respective New Zealand teams. These including Stephen Fleming for cricket, John Radovonich for hockey and Charlie Oliver for rugby union.