3C Yesterday
Located on the southern edge of Chews Lane at the intersection with Victoria St, 3C Bar & Restaurant is a proud testament to Wellington’s journey from pioneer settlement to vibrant modern city.
The Colonial Carrying Company of NZ
The Company was incorporated in 1893 as customs and freight forwarding agents, transporting goods to and from the four corners of the world.
The Company Building
Number 56 Victoria Street is a fine example of the work of well-known colonial architects C T Natusch and Sons. Designed in the Free Gothic style, the six-storey building has provided office space and warehouse storage since its construction for the Colonial Carrying Company in 1927. The building’s architectural features of brackets, shallow segmented arches and the high stud with long opening steel windows, are hallmarks of the Gothic Revival Style. The building is in near-authentic condition – the original plastered ceilings and walls were left exposed and refinished, while the ornate timber and marble panelled lobby, stairs and lift were restored.
History of Chews Lane
Timeline
| 1840 | Chews Lane origins are as part of the foreshore of the great harbour of Te Whanganui a Tara |
| 1842 | A portion of ‘The Beach’ - a foreshore walkway along Wakefield’s new city of Wellington - between Clay Point and Te Aro is named Willis Street |
| 1852 | Part of Willis Street, between today’s Chews Lane and Mercer Street, is widened by reclamation |
| 1857-63 | A further northern portion of Willis Street is widened, creating a channel of water between the two reclamations known as Harbour Passage (later to become Chews Lane) |
| John Chew arrives in New Zealand | |
| 1865 | Wellington becomes the seat of Government |
| 1870 | The Duke of Edinburgh Hotel is built on the corner of Manners and Willis Street |
| 1875 | John Chew purchases land on the second Willis Street reclamation - the land-filled corner section previously known as Harbour Passage. The lane becomes known as Chews Lane |
| 1876 | John Chew opens the buildings on his Willis Street site |
| 1879 | The first known map identifying Chews Lane is published in Wellington |
| 1882 | John Chew’s Willis Street/Chews Lane buildings are destroyed by fire |
| 1883 | New buildings are designed by John Chew for the same site |
| 1888 | John Chew dies at Crofton, near Wellington |
| 1906 | The Hotel Windsor is built on the corner of Chews Lane and Willis Street |
| 2004 | Wellington City Council sells the Chews Lane Precinct |
| 2005 | Chews Lane Precinct redevelopment commences |
| 2008 | Chews Lane re-opens to the public. |
John Chew – Man of Business
Born in Middleton, Lancashire in 1825, John Chew came to New Zealand in 1858 and settled in Wellington. He bought land in Ngaio and built a home for his family (Chew Cottage). He also purchased land and ownership of the Kaiwharawhara timber business and quickly established himself as a leading businessman in the city, who some today describe as “Wellington’s Father of Industry”.
Chew’s city timber yard was sited in Willis Street, on the corner of what would become Chews Lane. He also owned timber mills in Wairarapa and Porirua and was involved in gold mining and pig-iron production from the Taranaki iron sands. As well as his business interests Chew was a member of the Hutt County Council and the Wellington Harbour Board, and was associated with the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company. During his active trading days he also imported domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural machinery.
Wellington’s Reclamations – the birth of Chews Lane
Today’s maps of Wellington show the city’s oldest streets – Lambton and Thorndon Quays and Willis Street – to be some distance from the waterfront. Land was scarce from early settlement and public access to the harbour was restricted to the narrow harbour’s edge, which was named ‘The Beach’. The need for expansion into the harbour was increasingly evident.
The first sizable reclamations took place in the 1850s. The Sir George Gray’s Reclamation of 1852, and the later 1857-1863 reclamation, widened the whole of lower Willis Street establishing a water channel, the ‘Harbour Passage’, which was later filled and renamed Chews Lane. By the end of the 1870s about 70 acres of land had been reclaimed using spoil from the hills behind Lambton Quay and from Wadestown Hill. The new seawalls ran almost in a straight line from the bottom of Willis Street to Pipitea Point (Thorndon)
Willis and Victoria Streets – the heart of Wellington
Chews Lane has linked the ever-busy Willis and Victoria Streets since the 1870s. Neighbouring buildings on Willis Street - predominantly retail and commercial premises - largely date back to the 1870s, while
Victorian/Edwardian warehouses and offices of importers and wholesalers dominated Victoria Street.
A bustling centre for merchants and traders, by 1858, Wellington already had 25 hotels serving a population of just 2000 adults. From its earliest years Willis Street was home to well known establishments, including: The Empire Hotel, built in the 1850s; The Duke of Edinburgh, on the corner of Willis and Manners Streets; The Melbourne Hotel, built in the 1870s and replaced with the Carlton Hotel in 1901 after a fire; The Trocadero Hotel, which by 1897 was considered to have one of the best restaurants in Australasia; The Grand Hotel, built in 1906 on a Willis Street site which had been the location of three previous hotels; and the Windsor Hotel, built in 1906 on the corner of Chews Lane.
Very few of Wellington’s original hotels remain but today the heart of Wellington again abounds with cafes, bars and restaurants.
Chews Lane Redevelopment
Wellington City Council sold the Chews Lane Precinct in 2004 by way of a 250-year lease. The precinct then comprised nine commercial building intersected by Chews Lane. The Willis Bond & Co Limited proposal accepted by Council was to create a new ‘mixed use’ destination in the city, including retail stores, food and beverage outlets, offices, carparks and apartments, while retaining the heritage values of the historic buildings. While the redevelopment includes two new commercial buildings and an apartment tower designed by Athfield Architects, the character and history of the old Chews Lane has been retained by the refurbishment of five heritage buildings:
44 Victoria Street, built in 1959 -a significant example of the post-war International style.
56 Victoria Street, built in 1927 - rare high-rise example of the Free Gothic style, with subtle decorative details of brackets and segmented arches, built for the Colonial Carrying Company
29 Willis Street, built in 1898 and last remodelled in 1929 in Art Deco style
35 Willis Street, built in 1906 in Edwardian style, with tall sash windows top and bottom and simply detailed parapet and cornice.
The heritage façade of 60 Victoria Street, the Ballinger Building, has also been retained, with two additional floors added, sympathetically mixing the old and new architecture.