Sockburn, New Zealand

Suburb in Christchurch, New Zealand

Sockburn
Suburb
A former RNZAF North American Harvard mounted outside the Air Force Museum of New Zealand, a prominent feature of Sockburn
Coordinates: 43°32′06″S 172°33′00″E / 43.535°S 172.55°E / -43.535; 172.55
Country	New Zealand
City	Christchurch
Local authority	Christchurch City Council
Electoral ward	Hornby Riccarton Hallswell
Area [1]
• Land	373 ha (922 acres)
Population  (June 2023)[2]
• Total	4,550

	Avonhead
Hei Hei	Sockburn	Upper Riccarton
	Wigram

Sockburn is an industrial suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, located between Hornby and Riccarton, some 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the Christchurch city centre. The suburb is roughly bounded by the triangle formed by State Highway 1 in the west, Main South Road (SH73a) in the south and SH73 in the north. The suburb of Wigram, containing the city's former RNZAF base (now an aviation museum), is located nearby. One of the city's main horseracing circuits, Riccarton Racecourse, is located close to Sockburn's northern edge, and Racecourse was the initial name for the area. The name Sockburn is likely to have come from the village of Sockburn in County Durham, England.^[3]

The name of Sockburn is most often currently associated with its role in arterial routes south from the city, with Main South Road (formerly part of State Highway 1) crossing the Sockburn Overbridge and having a major junction at the Sockburn roundabout, where the road splits into two main routes to the city, one extending through the commercial heart of Riccarton, and the other, Blenheim Road, passing to the south through a light industrial area.