– Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown’s School Days, 1857

It’s hard to picture what many of Christchurch’s buildings looked like before the earthquake. For many locals the torn down remains of a building or an empty lot remind them of a favourite hangout, a birthday or even the best burgers in town. The archaeology that has been excavated and collected from these sites and buildings provides evidence of earlier and equally personal stories and events, proving these buildings were full of life for over a century. One example of this is the Oxford Hotel, also known as the Oxford Family Hotel, the Oxford Victualling Co. and latterly as the Oxford on Avon.

The Oxford on Avon Hotel post-earthquake, 8 November 2011. Photo: M. Hennessey.

The Oxford Hotel was located on the corner of Oxford Terrace and Colombo Street and was one of the city’s older hotels. Originally established as a boarding house by Antill and Sarah Adley in 1860 or 1861, the hotel gained a licence to sell alcohol in 1862 and began operating as a pub as well as a boarding house. It was at this time that the establishment was renamed the Oxford Family Hotel (Greenaway 2007: 14). Adley had proprietorship of the hotel until his retirement in 1873 (The Cyclopedia of New Zealand 1903) and continued to own the land and lease it out until 1903 (Christchurch Deeds Index C1 c.1853: 616). The hotel lease was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Dann in 1875, who transferred the lease to Mr. Bately, who rebuilt the building in 1883 (this was the building that stood until the earthquake; Star 5/6/1883: 3). What we found from the archaeological data and historical records is that this building not only acted as a hotel but as a central hub for the wider community, which was not uncommon for 19^th century hotels in New Zealand.

View from the Colombo Street bridge looking south to the Cathedral: at left is the Oxford Hotel and at right is Market (Victoria) Square, c. 1885. Image: Christchurch City Library, File Reference CCL Photo CD 02 IMG0020.

Image: Star 22/4/1878: 4.

The hotel was nice and close to Victoria Square, first known as Market Square and a centre of activity in early Christchurch. This must have been good for business and it allowed the hotel to cater to the wider community, hosting meetings and events, acting as a morgue or emergency room in some cases (Press 15/4/1879: 2; Star 4/2/1890: 3), and all the while supplying cheap alcohol from the pub. During Dann’s operation of the hotel he offered membership to a skittle alley and often hosted skittle and quoit tournaments. Mail and messages could be left at the Oxford by or for patrons (Star 28/4/1869: 3), so it functioned as a post office too. Most importantly, though, the Oxford Hotel was a pub: Dann’s advertisements in the local newspapers constantly mentioned the array of spirits available, with an emphasis on the cheap prices.

Of the 925 glass artefacts recovered from the site, 395 were black beer bottles, 196 were wine bottles and another 99 were other liquor or spirit bottles. There were also 52 porter or stout bottles. Sounds like a lot of alcohol, right? Think again. To put it into context, even if only one bottle of alcohol were drunk a day, this would represent little more than two year’s drinking. So where did all the other bottles go, then? Well, the Avon River was conveniently close…

Adley advertisement. Image: Lyttelton Times 23/8/1862: 3.

Sample of black beer and wine bottle bases from the site. The black beer bottles that make up the bulk of this assemblage become less common after 1880. As such, it is likely that these bottles were associated with either Adley or Dann’s period at the hotel. Image: K. Webb.

A number of smoking pipes were also found, confirming that the combination of alcohol and tobacco was just as common in the 19^th century as it is today. Many of the pipes were made by Charles Crop, a manufacturer from London whose pipes have been found on hotel and residential sites in both New Zealand and Australia (Brassey 1991: 30; Macready et al. 1990: 57). Tantalisingly, the embossing on some of the pipe stems hints at the origins of some of the smokers: “QUEENSLANDER” and “LACHLANDER”. Perhaps the smoker purchased these as a reminder of home.

‘Crop’ smoking pipes. Image: K. Webb.

Examples of pharmaceuticals. Image: K. Webb.

One surprising aspect of the archaeological assemblage was the large array of pharmaceutical bottles. The bottles included anything and everything, from Barry’s Tricopherous – which claimed to preserve, restore and beautify the hair, preventing baldness and grey hair (Nelson Evening Mail 29/1/ 1870: 3) – to items such as Piesse and Lubin’s perfumes. Items of medicinal use were also recovered, such as Kay Brothers Essence of Linseed, for those pesky coughs, and J. C Eno’s Effervescing Fruit Salts for indigestion. A toothbrush and toothpaste jar were also recorded. Perhaps these were personal items used by the proprietor’s family, or by guests who stayed there. Or perhaps these were offered to guests in the way that complimentary shampoo and conditioner are offered today – after all, it was advertised as first class accommodation.

Image: Star, 24/12/1874: 4.

A significant quantity of cups and saucers were also found, indicating that the hotel was serving more than just alcohol. The tea cups and saucers collected from the site were largely porcelain and decorated with a gilt tea leaf or sprigged design. A number of whiteware teawares were also gilt-banded and it may have been that the hotel had a gilt decorated tea set.

Porcelain ‘sprigged’ ware. Image: K. Webb.

Efforts to provide a first class establishment are also evident in the ceramics used as serving ware. Serving wares, such as tureens, and dining ware, such as plates, were also recorded in large numbers. A number of ceramics were decorated with the Asiatic Pheasants, Willow or Beauty patterns, suggesting that the hotel may have had several matching dinner sets. Although all these patterns are common in 19th and early 20th century archaeological sites, they would have completed the dining room experience and that feeling of first rate service for hotel patrons.

A plate decorated with the Asiatic Pheasants pattern. Image: K. Webb.

Faunal remains. Image: K. Webb.

Like many New Zealand hotels, the Oxford Hotel appears to have offered some more ‘exotic’ meats on its menu, including birds, cockles, oysters and a little bit of fish. The remains of these non-mammalian meats are rarely found at 19^th century European archaeological sites in Christchurch, except at hotel sites. As today, people went out to eat more exotic meals than they might have had at home. From the sheep bones, we know that roast legs of lamb or mutton were being served, and may have been the most popular meal at the hotel, followed by cuts from the shoulder.

The evidence from the Oxford Hotel says many things. It tells us how the hotel operated as just that, a hotel. It provided guests with a first class dining experience that included matching dining sets and porcelain tea sets. It was a place where people drank beer and wine while overlooking Victoria Square and the Avon River. But the evidence also remembers the building and the people who operated and frequented a local and successful pub, where alcohol was consumed in quantities, where pipes were smoked leisurely and a game of skittles echoed in the background. It was a hub, a central link to Christchurch’s development and maybe, just maybe, someone’s favourite place in 19th century Christchurch.

Kim Bone

References

Brassey R. 1991. Clay Tobacco Pipes from the Site of the Victoria Hotel, Auckland, New Zealand. Australian Journal of Historical Archaeology 9: 27-30.

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District] 1903. [online] Available at: <http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz//tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc03Cycl.html>.

Greenaway, R.L.N., 2007. Woolston/Heathcote Cemetery Tour. [online] Available at: <http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Heritage/Cemeteries/Woolston/HeathcoteCemetery.pdf>.

Macready, S. and Goodwyn, J., 1990. Slums and Self Improvement: The History and Archaeology of the Mechanics Institute, Auckland, and its Chancery Street Neighbourhood. Vol 2: The Artefacts and Faunal Material. Science and Research. Internal Report No 92. Department of Conservation.

Press. [online] Available at: <http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz>.

Star. [online] Available at: <http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz>.