The Anglican cathedral of ChristChurch in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, was built in the second half of the 19th century.

The origins of Christchurch Cathedral date back to the plans of the Canterbury Association who aimed to build a city around a central cathedral and college in the Canterbury Region based on the English model of Christ Church, Oxford. Henry John Chitty Harper, the first Bishop of Christchurch, arrived in 1856 and began to drive the cathedral project forward. In 1858 the project was approved by the diocese and a design was commissioned from George Gilbert Scott, a prolific British architect who was known for his Gothic Revival churches and public buildings (he later went on to build St Pancras railway station in London, England, and St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland). Scott himself never visited Christchurch, but handed over the oversight of the project to Robert Speechley.

The Canterbury Region has experienced many earthquakes over the years, and like many buildings in Christchurch, the cathedral has suffered varying degrees of earthquake damage.

1881 - A stone was dislodged from the finial cap, immediately below the terminal cross, by an earthquake in late 1881, within a month of the cathedral's consecration.

1888 - Approximately 8 metres of stonework fell as a result of the 1 September 1888 North Canterbury earthquake. The stone spire was replaced.

1901 - The top of the spire fell again as a result of the 16 November 1901 Cheviot earthquake. This time, the stone construction was replaced with a more resilient structure of Australian hardwood sheathed with weathered copper sheeting, with an internal mass damper. The repairs were funded by the Rhodes family.

2010 - The 4 September 2010 Canterbury earthquake caused some superficial damage, and the cathedral was closed for engineering inspections until 22 September 2010, when it was deemed safe to re-open. Some further damage was sustained in the "Boxing Day Aftershock" on 26 December.

The 6.3-magnitude earthquake on 22 February 2011 left the cathedral damaged and several surrounding buildings in ruins. The spire that had withstood damage in the September 2010 quake was completely destroyed, leaving only the lower half of the tower standing. The Cathedral suffered further significant damage on 13 June 2011 from the 6.3-magnitude June 2011 Christchurch earthquake with the rose window in the west wall falling in and raised the question of "...whether the cathedral needed to be deconsecrated and demolished".