More Info →Across the Lakelet to Church Street West

This photograph looks across the lakelet to All Saints Church, which was built in 1914-1915. The Grand Hotel, seen here on the left side of the photograph, was built in 1906. This gun was installed in 1909 and removed during the 1940s. Cannons were purchased by the Government in 1879 and installed at Fort Ngahauranga overlooking Port Nicholson, Wellington Harbour. The never fired a shot in anger and were obsolete by 1900. Two of these cannons were acquired by the Palmerston North Borough Council in 1909 for display in the Square. By 1939, the Council decided the cannons had outlived their usefulness and sold them to a scrap dealer. See Research File A175/72/2 in the Ian Matheson City Archives, City Library for more information. The Lakelet was constructed in October 1909. It was the main feature of the last quadrant of The Square to be developed by the Beautifying Society. The Lakelet is shaped as a butterfly, with the wings being bisected by a bridge as its body. It is also referred to as the Butterfly Lake.