Cashmere Sanatorium open-air shelter heritage listed

WORDS: Rosemary Baird

A rare surviving open-air shelter for tuberculous patients in Huntsbury, Christchurch has been entered on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero.

In 19th century Christchurch, tuberculosis (TB), a global killer throughout human history, was a serious cause of death. The one cure for TB, developed in the second half of the 19th century, was sanatorium care. Rest, sunlight and fresh air were understood to arrest the progress of the disease. In 1903, Nurse Maude set up an open-air consumptive tent camp amongst the sand dunes of New Brighton. The camp closed a few years later, but not before it had highlighted the tragedy of TB.

In 1906, the North Canterbury Hospital and Charitable Aid Board decided to build a sanatorium for consumptive patients in the Port Hills next few years, the first buildings were constructed: an administration and dining building, disinfecting laundry, morgue, nurses’ home and portable patient shelters.

Opened in 1910, the sanatorium was a place where patients in the early stage of TB could recover through rest, ample food and fresh air. The patient huts or shelters (men’s and women’s huts were separated on different terraces) had doors and windows designed to let in the air, and some huts could be rotated to catch the sun. pleased this remnant of the historic site is now recognised. “Although it looks like a basic wee building, it tells a fascinating wider story. It gives a poignant insight into the relevance of isolation and fresh air medical responses in our nation’s health history. Something we’ve learned a lot about recently with the Covid-19 response and lockdowns!”

In her book, Bread and Roses, activist and MP Sonja Davies, née Vile (19232005), recalled her experiences there as a patient in the mid-1940s. Patients slept with their ‘shack’ fronts open through winter, kept warm only by hot water bottles. The patients’ lives were on hold; they followed a strict regimen of rest and occupied their time with reading, writing and handicrafts. Friends and family could only visit briefly and at allocated times. The sanatorium complex grew through the first half of the 20th century. Coronation Hospital was built in 19131914 for advanced TB cases (so-called ‘incurables’). Further up the hillside, a military sanatorium was built in 1918-1919 for returned soldiers with TB. A fresh air home (preventorium) for children at risk of TB opened in 1923, followed by an open-air school in 1926. In 1942, a new Upper Sanatorium (Annex) complex was built mainly for returning soldiers from WWII.

From the 1950s, as medical treatment improved, TB sanatoria were no longer needed. Cashmere Sanatorium buildings were gradually repurposed or demolished, and in 1991 the hospital closed. The single remaining open-air shelter was moved to Coronation Reserve, the original site of the Middle Sanitorium Terrace, where it remains to this day. n

heritagenewzealand heritage_nz

@heritagenz

Editor: Adrienne Hannan

Designer: Michael Steele

Published by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, Heritage Quarterly keeps you up-to-date with heritage news from around New Zealand.

Copyright © Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. All images credit Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga unless otherwise stated.

For more information or to subscribe, write to PO Box 2629, Wellington 6140 or contact the editor, phone: 04 470 8066 or email: ahannan@heritage.org.nz

ISSN 2324-4267 (Print) ISSN 2324-4275 (Online).

Members of Heritage New Zealand can visit its properties for free, visit visitheritage.co.nz.

Heritage Quarterly is printed with mineral oil-free, soy-based vegetable inks on Sumo paper. This paper is Forestry Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certified, manufactured from pulp from responsible sources under the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. Please recycle.