WCC, City Engineer's Department Maps and Plans

Descriptive Data

Archives Identifier00237Date Range1867-1970DescriptionThis is a series of plans and maps created by or submitted to Wellington City Council, specifically the Surveyor's or Engineer's Department, as part of day to day business. The series was started by the City Engineer and Surveyor's Office and continued by the City Engineer's Department which succeeded it. They carried out a number of roles and functions, which changed as the scope of these departments altered under various Council re-organisations, and this series reflects that variety of functions.

The maps and plans relate largely to the development of city infrastructure and buildings. They document land subdivision, road formation, Council building construction, harbour reclamation, and development of infrastructure such as lighting, roading, tramways, water supply and drainage. The plans are a mixture of published, published and annotated, and hand-drawn.

It is also unknown whether all the plans are original drawings or whether some are working copies. Sometimes an Engineer's plan was printed or copied a number of times, to allow for different schemes or annotations.

They are arranged in a numerical sequence, which does not relate to the date of the plan or subject matter. It is thought the system was started in the early 1920s. Existing plans were registered first (many of which were part of an early City Engineer's and Surveyor's Office series of plans, such as those in Series 00248), then plans were added as created or deposited with the City Engineers Department.

There is a register of these plans (Series 00236). It is not known whether there were corresponding indexes. The bulk of the plans held were transferred to Archives from the Wellington Public Library New Zealand Room. A 1980s report to the Wellington City Council from the Town Planning Committee notes that for their department, '… the Civic Records Librarian inspects all plans which have become redundant and retains those thought to be of particular historic interest to the City.' It is not known whether the library carried out any appraisal or arrangement of plans.

Only a fraction of the plans entered in the register are held in paper format (the register numbers to around 11,000 drawings). Some have been renumbered into other plan series, for example the 40/- plans, or filed on correspondence files (mainly on Series 00009). A large number of City Engineers drawings are held on aperture card. The following information has been recorded for each item: Delineator refers to the person or agency who created the plan. Commissioning Agency refers to the organisational entity which was responsible for the plan's creation. Commissioning Agency is given as WCC where it is unknown, otherwise the specific department / committee / organisation is recorded where identified through the plan or other research. A number of sheets refer to other plans in this or other series. Where these are held, the reference or series is included.Quantity (Linear Metres)8.95MediumPlanSystem of ArrangementNumerical by City Engineer's plan numberCollection TypeWellington City Council

Access Information

Restriction StatusOpen

Related Agencies

Controlling or Creating AgencyCity Engineer's DepartmentRelationship Date Range1923-1972

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WCC, City Engineer's Department Maps and Plans