... for small boySh to smoke on

Press, 7 September 1984, Page 20

... for small boySh to smoke on

For six days in 1891, pedestrians in Cathedral Square could tell the time by the sundial which had been erected on the footpath beside the Godley Statue.

Samuel Manning was elected Mayor of Christchurch in 1890 and at the end of his term of office he presented to Christchurch a gift of a sundial. Its placement in Cathedral Square did not go smoothly. “Surprised” writes to the Editor of the “Lyttelton Times” inquiring why, after erecting the base of the sundial, work has stopped. He asks whether the base has been erected for a sundial at all “. . . or has it been put up for wearied cabmen to recline against or for small boys to smoke on.” He urges for the sake of the city’s reputation that the sundial be completed as soon as possible. Five days later, the "Lyttelton Times” informs us that the sundial was intended to be fitted to the pedestal on January 23, but the cap had been shifted by larrikins and' would need adjustment Not only larrikins appeared unenthusiastic about the sundial. At the City Council meeting in February, 1891, “Councillor Rowe asked if the Works Committee had given

its sanction to the erection of a ‘dangerous stone’ on the footpath near the Godley Statue. In reply to the Mayor, Councillor Rowe said that he referred to the Manning Monument. The Mayor said that perhaps the Works Committee could give some information. Councillor Prud-hoe replied that the Works Committee knew nothing of the matter.”

Finally, on February 24, 1891, the sundial was erected. Six days later it was taken down because of the damage being done to it The Works Committee of the City Council asked the Hospital Board 'for permission to put the sundial in the grounds of the Hospital. It stood on the lawn opposite Ward 4 for about the next 80 years until the work to the Riverside Ward began in 1971. When the sundial was removed, it was discovered that the face was missing; only the cap, pedestal and base, remained. Now all that remains of the Manning sundial is stored in the Works Department of the Canterbury Hospital Board — remembered by the ; photographs accompanying this article which are kept in the Canterbury Museum.

By

JO-ANNE SMITH