The War Memorial on Raven Quay in Kaiapoi was designed and executed in 1921-2 by well-known New Zealand sculptor, William Trethewey (1892-1956), as a poignant memorial to the district’s men who served in the First World War. Hailed as an embodiment of the Anzac spirit, the memorial contributes to the nation’s history of public art and sculpture. The Kaiapoi community began discussions of a memorial in 1919, and intended to build a memorial hall. However, like many small towns, Kaiapoi quietly dropped the idea after a strong nationwide lobby began against ‘useful’ memorials. Unlike many small towns, which imported statues from a catalogue or copied memorials from overseas, Kaiapoi decided instead to commission ‘a statue of a New Zealand private in field dress’. The statue was set on a section previously owned by the Waimakariri Harbour Board. The result, unveiled on Anzac Day 1922, is a moving expression of the experience of war for a young New Zealand ‘digger’. The memorial sits in a prominent position in the town within a memorial garden, between the Kaiapoi River and Raven Quay, next to the Williams Street Bridge. It is a full-length representation of a New Zealand soldier, carved from one block of Italian Carrara marble, standing on a stone plinth. The carving depicts the exhausted soldier standing but leaning on a broken gun carriage wheel. His tired face is looking slightly to the left, his sleeve is torn, revealing a wounded arm, and his bootlace is broken. In his hands he loosely holds a rifle. At the south-east base of the marble, below the soldier’s boots, is the inscription ‘W. TREWETHEY FECIT’ and at the base of the south front of the stone plinth is a marble plaque stating ‘APRIL 25th 1922 J.H. BLACKWELL MAYOR, TRETHEWEY & BERRY SCULPTORS’. The stone plinth carries plaques on each side. Three large marble plaques, at the south front and west and east sides, name all the men from the district who died or served in World War One. Another small marble plaque on the south front states ‘THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE’. At the north rear is a further marble plaque for ‘The Great War’, below which are metal plaques in memory of those who died in World War Two, Korea, Malaya, Borneo and Vietnam and the combined services involved. Originally the sculpture included a bayonet with the rifle but this was removed at some time. In 2004, the reserve on which the War Memorial stands was upgraded and memorial plaques naming those who served in the South African and Second World War, built on freestanding walls, were added nearby. Kaiapoi’s Band Rotunda (Register No. 3748) stood to the north-west of the War Memorial until it was relocated to Trousselot Park in 2003. The War Memorial in Kaiapoi continues to be a focus during Anzac Day services.
Location
List Entry Information
Overview
Detailed List Entry
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 2
Access
Able to Visit
List Number
3763
Date Entered
9th September 1984
Date of Effect
9th September 1984
City/District Council
Waimakariri District
Region
Canterbury Region
Extent of List Entry
Extent includes part of the land described as Lot 12 DP 1280 (RT CB524/82), Canterbury Land District and the structure known as the War Memorial thereon.
Legal description
Lot 12 DP1280 (RT CB524/82), Canterbury Land District
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