Clarendon Tower
| Clarendon Tower | |
|---|---|
Clarendon Tower with the retained façade of Clarendon Hotel
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| Former names | Clarendon Hotel |
| General information | |
| Type | office high rise |
| Location | Worcester Street at Oxford Terrace, Christchurch Central City, New Zealand |
| Address | 78 Worcester Street, Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Completed | 1987 |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 17 storeys |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Warren and Mahoney |
| Official name | Clarendon Hotel Facade |
| Designated | 24-Jun-2005 |
| Reference no. | 1858 |
Clarendon Tower was a high rise building on Worcester Street at Oxford Terrace in the Christchurch Central City, New Zealand. Built on the site of the former Clarendon Hotel, the façade of the historic building was kept in the redevelopment and was protected by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category II heritage structure. Following damage from the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the 17-storey building has been demolished.
The first Clarendon, an early wooden hotel, was established in a former private house. It was located at 78 Worcester Street, on the corner of Oxford Terrace. The first occupier of the site was Guise Brittan in 1851, the land agent for the Canterbury Association. He operated the Christchurch land office, located diagonally opposite the intersection on the site that is these days occupied by Our City, a former home of the Christchurch City Council. Brittan sold his building in 1859 to Irish migrant Rowland Davis, who obtained a liquor licence and enlarged the house. Thus, the history of the site as a public house began.
A subsequent owner, George Oram, changed the name of the hotel to Clarendon in 1866, after the then British foreign secretary, the Earl of Clarendon. The quality of the hotel was recognised in 1869 when the Duke of Edinburgh stayed there and bestowed on Oram the title of 'Hotel Keeper by Appointment to His Royal Highness Prince Alfred the Duke of Edinburgh'.
The Clarendon Hotel was often used for inquests into drownings as it was located on the bank of the Avon River. It was also used as the departure point for Cobb and Co coaches to the West Coast.
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