Editing Sumner, New Zealand (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Black Map Sumner Township 1849, 01.JPG|thumb|Black Map of Sumner township from November 1849, produced by [[Edward Jollie]] for chief surveyor [[Joseph Thomas (surveyor)|Joseph Thomas]]|254x254px]]
Sumner is nestled in a coastal valley separated from the adjacent city suburbs by rugged [[Volcano|volcanic]] hill ridges that end in cliffs that descend to the sea shore in places.  Sumner Bay is the first bay on the northern side of [[Banks Peninsula]] and faces [[Pegasus Bay]] and the [[Pacific Ocean]].

Because of its ocean exposure, a high surf can form in some swell conditions. The beach is gently sloping, with fine grey sand.  It is a popular surf beach for these reasons.{{Citation needed|reason=Who stated this fact and where is it recorded?|date=February 2019}}

Sand dunes have filled the river valley behind the beach.  This has made housing construction relatively easy, although flooding at the head of the valley has been a problem in the past due to the reverse slope caused by the sand dunes filling the front of the valley.  This has been addressed by a flood drain.{{Citation needed|reason=Who stated this fact and where is it recorded?|date=February 2019}}

A sea wall and wide esplanade have been built along the length of the beach to prevent coastal erosion.{{Citation needed|reason=Who stated this fact and where is it recorded? Also a war memorial?|date=February 2019}}

The rocky volcanic outcrop of '''Cave Rock''', or ''Tuawera'' dominates the beach.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tuawera — Cave Rock |url=https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/ti-kouka-whenua/tuawera/ |website=Tī Kōuka Whenua |publisher=Christchurch City Libraries |access-date=19 December 2020 |archive-date=24 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024123123/https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/ti-kouka-whenua/tuawera/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Until the mid-1860s, this feature was known by Europeans as Cass Rock, after the surveyor [[Thomas Cass (surveyor)|Thomas Cass]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Heritage/PlaceNames/ChristchurchPlaceNames-A-M.pdf |title=Christchurch Place Names: A-M |last=Harper |first=Margaret |publisher=[[Christchurch City Libraries]] |pages=52–53 |access-date=11 April 2013 |archive-date=19 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130219075752/http://www.christchurchcitylibraries.com/Heritage/PlaceNames/ChristchurchPlaceNames-A-M.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> There are other rocky outcrops in the area and the volcanic nature of the geology is readily apparent from several of the exposed cliffs around the valley.

'''Shag Rock''', or ''[[Rapanui Rock|Rapanui]]'', is another large volcanic outcrop at the western end of the beach and sits at the mouth of the Estuary formed by the Avon and Heathcote rivers.<ref name="Rapanui">{{cite web |title=Rapanui — Shag Rock |url=https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/ti-kouka-whenua/rapanui/ |website=Tī Kōuka Whenua |publisher=Christchurch City Libraries |access-date=19 December 2020 |archive-date=13 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113043548/https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/ti-kouka-whenua/rapanui/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This landmark was shattered by the Christchurch earthquakes in 2011, which reduced the iconic rock to a pile of boulders.<ref name="Rapanui" />

===Sumner bar===

The Sumner Bar is a sand bar where the estuary meets the sea and is notoriously dangerous to cross.<ref>{{citation |last1=Willis |first1=Dr. J. S. |title=Private correspondence |date=1851}} quoted by {{cite book |editor1-last=Amodeo |editor1-first=Colin |title=Rescue, The Sumner community and its lifeboat service |date=1998 |publisher=Sumner Lifeboat Institute Incorporated |location=Sumner, Christchurch, New Zealand |page=3}}</ref><ref name="Amodeo3">{{cite book |editor1-last=Amodeo |editor1-first=Colin |title=Rescue, The Sumner community and its lifeboat service |date=1998 |publisher=Sumner Lifeboat Institute Incorporated |location=Sumner, Christchurch, New Zealand |page=3}}</ref> The outlet of the [[Avon Heathcote Estuary]], at the western end of the beach, forms the Sumner bar off shore of Cave Rock.{{Citation needed|reason=Who stated this fact and where is it recorded? Not clear as the bar has changed position in 1938, moving north-west to be off shore of Shag rock, when it reformed by the interaction between the ebb flow and mobilised sand encountered large sea waves during a winter storm in June 1938. |date=February 2019}}  The Sumner bar presents a major hazard to shipping, while the fast currents, strong rips and undertows in the area can be a danger to swimmers.{{Citation needed|reason=Who stated these facts and where are they recorded?|date=February 2019}}

In December 1854, Commander [[Byron Drury]], in [[HMS Pandora (1833)|HMS ''Pandora'']], surveyed the Sumner Bay, including the bar and mouth of the [[Avon-Heathcote Estuary]] for the [[Canterbury Provincial Council]]. Drury wrote a report and produced a detailed chart of the area, with soundings.<ref name=Rescue>{{cite book |last=Amodeo |first=Colin |date=1998 |title=Rescue: The Sumner community and its lifeboat |location=Sumner, Christchurch, New Zealand |publisher=Sumner Lifeboat Institution Incorporated |page=2 |isbn=0-473-05164-8 }}</ref> Commander Drury's 1854 chart locates several buildings on shore, including a store at the foot of the hill in Clifton Bay, Day's house, which is set well back from the foreshore on a bend in the road, as it turns away from the foot of Clifton hill, and Dobson's house, which is shown at end of the spur at the foot of Richmond Hill. Compared to a modern-day map, the Day's house would have been near the corner at the top end of Nayland Street while Dobson's house would be near the intersection of Nayland Street and Wakefield Avenue.

The earliest recorded accident crossing the Sumner Bar occurred in May 1845 when a whaleboat capsized, without loss of life.<ref name="Amodeo3" /> The earliest recorded loss of life was in 1851 when a dinghy capsizes and two men aboard drowned.<ref name="AmodeoFrontpaper">{{cite book |editor1-last=Amodeo |editor1-first=Colin |title=Rescue, The Sumner community and its lifeboat service |date=1998 |publisher=Sumner Lifeboat Institute Incorporated |location=Sumner, Christchurch, New Zealand |at=front paper}}</ref> The cutter ''Hawk'' broke up crossing the Sumner Bar in rough weather at the end of June 1851 and wrecked on the beach, though the crew survived, the cargo was plundered.<ref>{{cite news |title=JOURNAL OF THE WEEK |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/LT18510628.2.8 |access-date=29 December 2020 |work=[[Lyttelton Times]] |volume=I |issue=25 |date=28 June 1851 |location=Lyttelton, New Zealand |page=5 |archive-date=9 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509162904/https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/LT18510628.2.8 |url-status=live }}</ref>  Fifteen more vessels were recorded as stranding on the bar between 1851 and 1867, with 7 being total losses.<ref name="Amodeo3" /><ref name="Shipwrecks">{{cite book |last1=Menzies |first1=J. F. |title=Sumner |date=1941 |publisher=Sumner Borough Council |location=Christchurch, New Zealand |pages=13–15 |url=https://christchurchcitylibraries.com/DigitalCollection/Publications/1940s/1941Sumner/PDF/Menzies.pdf |access-date=29 December 2020 |chapter=Shipwrecks at Sumner}}</ref>

One regular vessel crossing the bar in the early days was the ''[[Mullogh (1855 ship)|Mullogh]]'', New Zealand's first iron hulled steamer. On 25 August 1865 the ''Mullogh'' ran onto Cave Rock, Sumner, in violent surf. Her cargo of liquor created keen interest on the beach. George Holmes of Pigeon Bay, the contractor for the [[Lyttelton Rail Tunnel]], then bought the ship, refitted and used her until 1869.<ref name=Mullogh>{{cite web|title=The single screw Iron steam ship Mullogh of 1855|url=http://www.nzmaritime.co.nz/mullogh.htm|publisher=New Zealand Maritime Record|access-date=1 October 2011|archive-date=16 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716022550/http://nzmaritime.co.nz/mullogh.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Shipwrecks" />

The [[NZ Trawler Muriel]] was stranded on Sumner Beach in 1937 and was a total loss and had to be dismantled where she lay.<ref name="Shipwrecks" />