The Cargill Monument is a notable public monument in central

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand. It is dedicated to the city's founding father, Captain William Cargill, and is approximately in height. The monument was designed by Charles Robert Swyer and built in 1863–64, using Tasmanian sandstone, on a base of locally sourced

phonolite Phonolite is an uncommon extrusive rock, of intermediate chemical composition between felsic and mafic, with texture ranging from aphanitic (fine-grained) to porphyritic (mixed fine- and coarse-grained). Phonolite is a variation of the igneous ...

. The design, in

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style, was possibly partly inspired by

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scott Monument The Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. It is the second largest monument to a writer in the world after the José Martí monument in Havana. It stands in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, opp ...

, and features delicate carved lacework and grotesques. Its design, strikingly similar to the

Martyrs' memorial The Martyrs' Memorial is a stone monument positioned at the intersection of St Giles' Street, Oxford, St Giles', Magdalen Street and Beaumont Street, to the west of Balliol College, Oxford, England. It commemorates the 16th-century Oxford Mar ...

in Oxford, England, was compared by contemporary architect Nathaniel Wales to that of England's

Eleanor cross The Eleanor crosses were a series of twelve tall and lavishly decorated stone monuments topped with crosses erected in a line down part of the east of England. King Edward I had them built between 1291 and about 1295 in memory of his beloved wi ...

es. The design also originally featured drinking fountains, but they have been unused for many years. The monument was originally located in the city's centre,

The Octagon The Octagon may refer to: *The Octagon, Christchurch, a former church in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand *The Octagon, Dunedin, the city centre of Dunedin, New Zealand *The Octagon (Egypt), the headquarters of the Egyptian Ministry of ...

, and was surrounded with railings, but it was moved to its current site (sans railings) in The Exchange in 1872. It now stands at the corner of

Princes Street Princes Street ( gd, Sràid nam Prionnsan) is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three ...

and Rattray Street on John Wickliffe Plaza. A plaque at the foot of the monument marks the location of the first

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

meeting in New Zealand, held at the site in April 1883. The Cargill Monument is Category I listed in the register of

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

Notes

References

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External links

Otago Taphophile
- a collection of newspaper reports about the monument, from 1864 to 1949. Buildings and structures in Dunedin Outdoor sculptures in New Zealand Tourist attractions in Dunedin 1863 sculptures Gothic Revival architecture in New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in Otago Cargill family (New Zealand) Central Dunedin {{sculpture-stub