Ilam, New Zealand

Ilam /ˈləm/ is a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand about five kilometres west of the city centre. It is the location of the University of Canterbury.

Ilam
Puaka-James Hight, home to the University of Canterbury Central Library and centrepiece of the University's Ilam campus.
Puaka-James Hight, home to the University of Canterbury Central Library and centrepiece of the University's Ilam campus.
Map
Coordinates: 43.526111°S 172.580278°E / -43.526111; 172.580278
CountryNew Zealand
CityChristchurch
Local authorityChristchurch City Council
Electoral ward
  • Waimairi
  • Riccarton
Area
  Land337 ha (833 acres)
Population
 (June 2022)[2]
  Total9,910
Burnside Bryndwr
Avonhead
Ilam
Fendalton
Upper Riccarton Riccarton

Located adjacent to State Highway 1 and the Christchurch International Airport, it is handily placed for transportation. It is also located close to the major retail area of Riccarton.

Iilam, home of the John Watts-Russell , Christchurch, New Zealand, c. 1900

The suburb was named after the ancestral home of the Hon. John Watts-Russell (1825–75), who hailed from Ilam Hall in Staffordshire, England. He settled in Canterbury in 1850, arriving on Sir George Seymour and named his property Ilam.[3] The Ilam homestead was in the 1950s inhabited by the rector of Canterbury College, Henry Rainsford Hulme. In 1954 the homestead gained notoriety as Hulme's 16-year-old daughter Juliet was involved in the Parker–Hulme murder case. The homestead was used as a major location for Peter Jackson's film about the murders, Heavenly Creatures. The homestead has been the University of Canterbury Staff Club since 1971.[4]


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