Town 22 km south-west from Christchurch. It was once a small railway junction, where the West Coast railway line leaves the main line. A 1972–74 plan for a substantial ‘new town’ was abandoned, but Rolleston has since grown. Rolleston was close to the epicentre of a major earthquake in 2010, but suffered relatively low damage due to the stable rock on which it was built. The town’s population has expanded rapidly since the earthquakes.
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Meaning of place name
Named for Canterbury’s last provincial superintendent, William Rolleston.
