It is interesting to consider how the Canterbury College town site would appear today if the presiding style of the buildings was not the Gothic. After all, there were other potential style options open to the Board of Governors when planning began for the Colleges first buildings. A Christchurch resident of the 1890s noted that no particular or rigid line of architecture has been adopted [here], but the general design and style, however, embrace good taste and elegance with substantial utility. There is a happy combination of ideas from various schools the Classic, Gothic, Venetian, Elizabethan and Domestic English.
For many reasons though, Gothic Revival was the obvious choice for the College. For a start, Gothic was the popular mode in England, and colonists in New 厙ぴ勛圖were keen to follow the trend. Being the same or as good as home would have brought with it a sense of security and self-confidence in the new settlement. A Christchurch settler wrote in 1903 Small and irregularly built structures, relics of the past, must be replaced by finer buildings before the citizens can be satisfied with the impression that their town will produce upon casual visitors."
