Nelson - Christ Church Cathedral

Christ Church Cathedral stands on the site of a Maori pa destroyed by Te Rauparaha. In 1842 the New Zealand Land Company established a settlement here. After the Wairau affray the settlers, fearful of attack, fortified the settlement, calling it Fort Arthur in honor of their leader Arthur Wakefield, who was killed in the affray. The first church on this site was built in 1850. Work on the cathedral was begun in 1925, and after various changes to the plan, partly to make the building earthquake-proof, it was finally completed in 1967.