Ilam, New Zealand

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

Ilam
Suburb
Ilam Ilam
Coordinates: 43.526111°S 172.580278°E
Country	New Zealand
Local authority	Christchurch
Area
• Land	145.96 ha (360.68 acres)
Population  (2013[1])
• Total	4,857

	Burnside
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.

The suburb was named after the ancestral home of the Hon. John Charles 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.[2] 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.[3]

Education

• Cobham Intermediate School is a coeducational school located on Ilam Road, that educates in years 7 and 8. With a roll of 726 it is the largest intermediate school in the South Island. It has a decile rating of 8. Notable alumni include John Key and Hayley Westenra.[4]
• Ilam Primary School, also located on Ilam Road, is a primary school situated next to the Canterbury University whose facilities the school uses. The school educates many children from overseas. It has a roll of 483 and a decile rating of 7.[5][6]
• Westburn School is a state coeducational contributing primary (years 1-8) school with a roll of 475 and a decile rating of 9.[7] The school was founded in 1961.

The Canterbury Japanese Supplementary School (カンタベリー日本語補習校 Kantaberī Nihongo Hoshūkō), a weekend Japanese school, holds its classes at the Ilam School in Ilam.[8]

References

1. "2013 Census QuickStats about a place: Ilam". archive.stats.govt.nz. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
2. Barker, M. A. (22 June 2007). "Watts Russell, Elizabeth Rose Rebecca 1833/1834? - 1905". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
3. University of Canterbury staff club Archived 2010-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
4. Education Counts: Cobham Intermediate
5. "A Unique School" Archived 21 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Ilam Primary School, accessed 22 June 2008
6. Education Counts: Ilam School
7. Education Counts: Westburn School
8. "所在地." Canterbury Japanese Supplementary School. Retrieved on February 14, 2015. "66 Ilam Road, Ilam, Christchurch 8041 New Zealand （Ilam School の校舎を借用しています。）"