Tony Kennett Kennett’s Jeweller

Shooting the China Jerries (pee pots)

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My father and his brother were great shots with these air guns and they would ping off these jerries, as they called them, and they would smash to pieces ...  people could never work out how this was happening as they couldn’t hear the guns going off!

Tony Kennett

 

Cess Pits and Night-soil

‘Christchurch was located on a flat, low-lying, water-logged site that quickly created serious drainage problems. Initially most dwellings and business premises were served simply by cess pits. These quickly polluted the city’s rivers and ground water. A night-soil collection system was introduced to remove human wastes from the city itself. The newly established City Council took over responsibility for night-soil collection soon after it was established in 1862. A night-soil reserve was created among sandhills in Linwood for disposal of the wastes. In 1864, the Council took steps to build a pipe system to carry away “sullage” (household waste water) but not night soil. The plan was, however, abandoned in 1866, though only after an expensive shipment of pipes had arrived from England.’

‘Between 1879 and 1882, the Board constructed a main pumping station at the eastern end of Tuam Street, from which the sewage was pumped along a rising main to a sewage farm at Bromley, and also laid sewage pipes through the city itself and into Sydenham, south of the South Town Belt, and St Albans, north of the North Town Belt.’ 

John Wilson, ‘Contextual Historical Overview for Christchurch City’, contextual study for Christchurch City Council, June 2005, p. 55

URL:http://resources.ccc.govt.nz/files/ChristchurchCityContextualHistoryOverviewFull-docs.pdf

  • High Street looking north to the Post Office, Christchurch. Bonnington's building is on the left. Courtesy Christchurch City Libraries CCL PhotoCD 13, IMG0086

Building information

Kennett’s Jewellers 209 (& 211) High Street Architect: Clarkson and Ballantyne Date: 1902 – 1903