Christchurch

Resort town in Dorset, southern England, at the junction of the Stour and Avon rivers, 8 km/5 mi east of Bournemouth; population (2001) 40,200. Industries include seasonal tourism, and the manufacture of plastics and electronics. The Norman and Early English Holy Trinity church is the longest parish church in England, extending for 95 m/312 ft.

Features Holy Trinity Church, a former priory church, has a Perpendicular tower at the western end, and a Norman nave and north transept; the north porch, dating from about 1300, is the largest in England. The church contains a monument to the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. North of Holy Trinity are the ruins of a Norman castle, built in Henry I's reign. Christchurch is noted for salmon fishing and sailing. Nearby to the south is Hengistbury Head, a nature reserve.

History The priory of Christchurch is mentioned in Saxon documents as Twynham. In about 1095 it was partially rebuilt and endowed by Rannulf Flambard, bishop of Durham (d. 1128). The borough was first summoned to send representatives to Parliament in 1307. During World War II, the portable Bailey bridge was invented by Donald Bailey at the Ministry of Supply's experimental bridging works in Christchurch.

Christchurch

City on South Island, New Zealand, 11 km/7 mi from the mouth of the Avon River; population (2001 est) 316,200. The second largest city in New Zealand, it is the principal commercial and industrial centre of the Canterbury Plains. Traditional industries such as farming, meat-packing, tanning, and the manufacture of woollen goods are still important, and other industries include the manufacture of carpets, clothing, tyres, fertilizers, glass, and footwear. The city derives its name from Christ Church College in Oxford, England, where some of the Anglican founders of the city had studied.

Christchurch was founded in 1850, and is home to the University of Canterbury (1873) and Lincoln University (1990). Other significant places of interest include the Anglican cathedral (1904), the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament (1905), the Canterbury Museum (1870), and the Robert McDougall Art Gallery (1932). The city's port is a bay in the sheltered Lyttelton Harbour on the north shore of the Banks Peninsula. Land has been reclaimed for service facilities, and rail and road tunnels (1867 and 1964 respectively) link Christchurch with Lyttelton.