Edmonds' Telephone Cabinet
The Edmonds’ Telephone Cabinet was built in 1929 as part of the River Bank Improvement Scheme with contributions made by Thomas Edmonds.
In 1929, to celebrate fifty years of living in Christchurch, Thomas J. Edmonds (1858-1932), the founder of Edmonds' Baking Powder, financed the construction of a clock tower and telephone cabinet as part of his River Bank Improvement Scheme. The site chosen for both of them was originally the intersection of Madras Street, Chester Street, and Oxford Terrace.
Both structures were designed by Francis Willis, and constructed by the Rennell Brothers. The sculptor was William Thomas Tretheway.
Edmonds originally envisioned a covered walkway with not only a telephone cabinet but also a drinking fountain and a letter box. The design for a Y-shaped structure with a semi-circular roof was chosen instead.
The body of the structure is built form volcanic rock. A door, situated on the western side of the structure, originally gave access to the telephone and letter box. A fountain on the northern façade provided water. The roof, while flat, is decorated with acanthus leaves at intervals above the Tuscan style entablature. The entablature itself is inscribed: Christchurch the Garden City on the Avon.
After the 2010-2011 earthquakes the telephone cabinet was restored and new foundations were installed.
Edmonds' Telephone Cabinet
The Edmonds' Telephone Cabinet at Poplars Reserve on Chester Street East. Also visible is the Edmonds' Clock Tower.
Edmonds' Telephone Cabinet
The Edmonds' Telephone Cabinet at Poplars Reserve on Chester Street East. To the east is Madras Street.
Interior of Edmonds' Telephone Cabinet
The interior of the Edmonds' Telephone Cabinet in Poplars Reserve.
Edmonds' Telephone Cabinet
The Edmonds' Telephone Cabinet on Poplars Reserve.
Clock tower and telephone cabinet
The Edmonds' Clock Tower and the Edmonds' Telephone Cabinet in Poplars Reserve.
Telephone cabinet and fencing
Fencing at Poplars Reserve and surrounding Edmonds' Telephone Cabinet.
Fencing around telephone cabinet
Fencing around the Edmonds' Telephone Cabinet in Poplars Reserve.
Edmonds' Clock Tower and Avon River
Oxford Terrace riverbank and Edmonds' Clock Tower seen from Cambridge Terrace. Also visible is the Edmonds' Telelphone Cabinet
Decorative electric lamps on Oxford Terrace
Oxford Terrace looking eastward towards the corner with Madras Street. Also visible are the Thomas Edmonds clock tower and the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church.
North east from the top of destructor chimney
View from the top of the Municipal Electricity Department destructor chimney on Armagh Street looking north east towards the intersection of Oxford Terrace and Madras Street along the Avon River with...