6 Sep 2016

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A time capsule has been placed at the feet of Canterbury’s founder, John Robert Godley.

Time capsule is place under the Godley statue.

Olivia Fryer aged 5, Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel and former Mayor, Sir Bob Parker place a time capsule under the Robert Godley Statue in Cathedral Square.

Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel lowered the metal cylinder containing objects and documents from different eras at a ceremony on Tuesday.

The bronze statue of J R Godley was repaired, strengthened and returned to its position in Cathedral Square in February 2015, four years after falling from its plinth in the 2011 earthquake.

Along with new documents and objects from 2016, the cylinder contains copies of historic items found inside two older time capsules discovered under the damaged statue by a contractor following the quake.

Inside the first capsule - a glass bottle - was a vellum manuscript recording the statue's move in 1918, while the second capsule, a sealed copper tube, dated from when the statue was moved back to its original site in 1933. It contained newspapers of the day, including a copy of The Press from April 29, 1933.

Copies of these original documents have been made on acid-free goatskin paper and they will be placed inside the new capsule along with a photo of a moulding hammer dating from the mid-19th century that was found inside the two metre tall statue during the strengthening and repair process. It’s unknown how the hammer, made from wood and iron, ended up inside the statue. It will be preserved by Christchurch City Council and may be used in future exhibitions.

In keeping with the tradition set by previous time capsules, the new cylinder holds a document describing the statue’s repair and reinstatement signed by Mayor Dalziel, Council Chief Executive Karleen Edwards, and the Bishop of Christchurch, Victoria Matthews.

Council Capital Delivery Community Manager Darren Moses said it was good to see John Robert Godley back in pride of place. “It’s nice to think that we're keeping up a tradition of putting these snapshots of time in his safe keeping. Who knows what will happen in the next chapter of this statue’s lifetime?”

A plaque will be installed above the site of the new capsule to mark the repair and reinstatement of the statue following the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes. The capsule will be raised from the ground in 2067 on the 200th anniversary of the statue’s original unveiling on August 6, 1867.

The National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies of New Zealand made a significant donation towards the cost of the capsule.

Godley, regarded as the founder of Canterbury, died in 1861. The statue is listed as a Group 1 heritage item in the Christchurch City Plan and a Category 1 historic place with Heritage New Zealand. It was the first portrait statue (portraying a real person) in New Zealand.