LYTTELTON, a borough of New Zealand, the port of Christchurch (q.v.) on the E. coast of South Island, on an inlet on the north-western side of Banks Peninsula. Pop. (1906) 3941. It is surrounded by abrupt hills rising to 1600 ft., through which a railway communicates with Christchurch (7 m. N.W.) by a tunnel 134 m. long. Great breakwaters protect the harbour, which has an area of 110 acres, with a low-tide depth of 20 to 27 ft. There is a graving dock accessible for vessels of 6000 tons. The produce of the rich agricultural district of Canterbury is exported, frozen or preserved. Lyttelton, formerly called Port Cooper and Port Victoria, was the original settlement in this district (1850).