DISTRICT PLAN –LISTED HERITAGE PLACE HERITAGE ASSESSMENT – STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE HERITAGE ITEM NUMBER 572 CAPTAIN ROBERT FALCON SCOTT STATUE AND SETTING – 153 OXFORD TERRACE, 161 OXFORD TERRACE, CHRISTCHURCH
PHOTOGRAPH: M.VAIR-PIOVA, 4/12/2014
PHOTOGRAPH: 2005
HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE Historical and social values that demonstrate or are associated with: a particular person, group, organisation, institution, event, phase or activity; the continuity and/or change of a phase or activity; social, historical, traditional, economic, political or other patterns.
The Scott statue has high historical and social significance as a memorial to British Antarctic explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912) and that it was carved by his wife sculptor Kathleen Scott. Christchurch was selected as the base for British Antarctic expeditions by the British Government and was the New Zealand base for Scott's Antarctic exhibitions of 1901 and 1910. Scott died in March 1912 during the course of the latter expedition, having reached the South Pole in January of that year. Returning from the South Pole Captain Scott and his companions perished due to bad weather and an inability to make it to the next supply base.
Page 1 News of the death of Scott and his companions did not reach Christchurch until 11 February 1913. A week after the news broke in Christchurch, Mayor Henry Holland organised a public meeting, and in March 1913 a prospectus was issued that sought to honour the expedition party. The Governor was appointed patron of the memorial fund and Prime Minster William Massey its president. In May 1915 the committee commissioned Scott’s widow and highly regarded sculptor Kathleen Scott (1878-1947) to produce a replica of her 1915 London Scott statue. Kathleen had married Scott in 1908 and accompanied him to Christchurch in 1910 to see him off on his final expedition. News of his death was conveyed to her as she was sailing to New Zealand with the intention of greeting him on his return.
The Christchurch statue was originally to have been made of bronze, like its London counterpart, however with WWI under way, metal was at a premium and considered too expensive, so Carrara marble was used instead. Kathleen Scott went to Carrara in Italy to carve the work in situ due to Britain's wartime prohibition on imported marble. Scott was paid £1000 for her sculpture of Scott. The statue was unveiled on 9 February 1917, the fourth anniversary of the news of Scott's death. On the plinth the names of the expedition party are inscribed along with an extract from Captain Scott's last note as he awaited death.
The statue was toppled from its plinth in the February 2011 earthquake, sustaining damage in the fall. It is currently awaiting restoration.
CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE Cultural and spiritual values that demonstrate or are associated with the distinctive characteristics of a way of life, philosophy, tradition, religion, or other belief, including: the symbolic or commemorative value of the place; significance to Tangata Whenua; and/or associations with an identifiable group and esteemed by this group for its cultural values.
The Scott statue has high cultural and spiritual significance for its commemorative value as a publicly-funded memorial to Captain Robert Falcon Scott and the other members of his expedition party. The inscription reads ‘I do not regret this journey, which shows that Englishmen can endure hardships, help one another and meet death with as great fortitude as ever in the past.’ The statue is also symbolic of Christchurch's association with Scott's expeditions to Antarctica, a demonstration of and focus for civic pride, and a reminder of the scientific connections between New Zealand and England.
ARCHITECTURAL AND AESTHETIC SIGNIFICANCE Architectural and aesthetic values that demonstrate or are associated with: a particular style, period or designer, design values, form, scale, colour, texture and material of the place.
The Scott statue has high aesthetic significance for its association with sculptor Kathleen Scott and the bronze statue on which it was based. The statue consists of a marble figure on a stone plinth with commemorative bronze plaques. Scott is shown dressed in the contemporary clothing used in Antarctic expeditions. The raised arm, contrapposto stance of the figure and rugged handling of the marble give the statue a dynamic quality that is characteristic and late Victorian and Edwardian realism.
Although intended as a replica of Scott’s 1915 London statue, the Christchurch statue differs in those aspects needed to address the greater weight of stone in comparison with bronze. Art Historian Mark Stocker considers the replica to benefit from being carved in Carrara marble. The marble version has been described thus: ‘The whiteness and stillness seem to suggest the ice and snow, the cold and loneliness of the place where he met his heroic
Page 2 death’. Kathleen Scott was one of the leading British sculptors of her day and the Scott statues established her prominence in British sculpture by the end of World War I. Her career peaked in the interwar years. The British periodical Truth described Kathleen Scott as ‘if not England's greatest sculptor, certainly one of the greatest woman sculptors of all history.’
TECHNOLOGICAL AND CRAFTSMANSHIP SIGNIFICANCE Technological and craftsmanship values that demonstrate or are associated with: the nature and use of materials, finishes and/or technological or constructional methods which were innovative, or of notable quality for the period.
The Scott statue has high technological and craftsmanship significance for its construction in Carrara marble with two bronze plaques on the plinth and an inscription carved into the stone. The figure also holds a bronze pole. The statue has been carved with a high standard of skill to achieve a heroic portrayal of the subject.
CONTEXTUAL SIGNIFICANCE Contextual values that demonstrate or are associated with: a relationship to the environment (constructed and natural), a landscape, setting, group, precinct or streetscape; a degree of consistency in terms of type, scale, form, materials, texture, colour, style and/or detail; recognised landmarks and landscape which are recognised and contribute to the unique identity of the environment.
The Scott statue and its setting has high contextual significance for its location within an area of reserve land on the banks of the River Avon, overlooked by a number of significant architecturally designed buildings: the former Municipal Chambers, former Public Trust Office, former Clarendon Hotel facade and the Worcester Street bridge. The statue also belongs to a cohort of notable statues that memorialise important figures within the early history of Christchurch, Canterbury and New Zealand. The statue is a recognised landmark due to both its location and subject matter.
The statue is formally axially aligned with a fountain and six rectangular garden beds, which are typically planted with colourful bedding displays. The statue faces north, which signifies the direction Scott was heading when he met his death. The setting of the statue consists of the area of grassed and planted reserve running from the River Avon to Oxford Terrace, between Worcester and Hereford Streets. The low level planting and area of open space allows the statue a physical and visual prominence in this part of the city.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE Archaeological or scientific values that demonstrate or are associated with: the potential to provide information through physical or scientific evidence an understanding about social historical, cultural, spiritual, technological or other values of past events, activities, structures or people.
The Scott statue and its setting have archaeological significance as they have the potential to hold evidence of human activity on the site, including that which occurred before 1900. The Ōtākaro (River Avon) was highly regarded as a mahinga kai by Waitaha, Ngāti Māmoe and Ng āi Tahu. Ōtākaro, meaning ‘the place of a game’, is so named after the children who played on the river’s banks as the food gathering work was being done. The Waitaha pā of Puari once nestled on its banks. In Tautahi’s time few Māori would have lived in the Ōtākaro area itself. Those that did were known to Māori living outside the region as Ō Roto Repo
Page 3 (swamp dwellers). Most people were seasonal visitors to Ōtākaro. The area was once the City Council yard and buildings are shown on the site of the Scott statue in 1862 and 1877 maps of the city.
ASSESSMENT STATEMENT
The Scott Statue and its setting has high overall significance to Christchurch, including Banks Peninsula, and New Zealand for tis association with last voyage of Capt. R F Scott. The statue has high historical significance, as a memorial to Robert Falcon Scott and his 1910 expedition to the South Pole and that it was carved by his wife sculptor Kathleen Scott. Christchurch was selected as the base for British Antarctic expeditions by the British Government and was the New Zealand base for Scott's Antarctic exhibitions of 1901 and 1910. It has high cultural and spiritual significance, for its commemorative function and association with Christchurch’s role as a gateway to Antarctica. The Scott Statue has high aesthetic significance for its association with sculptor Kathleen Scott, one of the leading British sculptors of her day, and the bronze statue on which it was based. It has high craftsmanship significance for its design and execution by Kathleen Scott in Carrara marble and has been carved with a high standard of skill to achieve a heroic portrayal of the subject.. The statue has high contextual significance for its setting, relationship to other public statuary in the inner-city, and landmark value within the city. The Scott statue and its setting have archaeological significance as they have the potential to hold evidence of human activity on the site, including that which occurred before 1900.
REFERENCES:
CCC Heritage files – Captain Scott Statue
Mark Stocker, ‘”Loving Hands and an eye that knew”: the Scott memorials in Christchurch and London’ Australasian Victorian Studies Journal Vol. 3.1 (1998)
Historic place # 1840 – Heritage NZ List http://www.heritage.org.nz/the-list/details/1840 http://www.ccc.govt.nz/cityleisure/artsculture/artinthecity/statues/captainrobertfalconscottstat ue.aspx
Mark Stocker 'Young Male Objects': The Ideal Sculpture of Kathleen Scott’ The Sculpture Journal Vol. 22, No. 2, December 1, 2013.
REPORT DATED: 12 JANUARY 2015
Page 4 PLEASE NOTE THIS ASSESSMENT IS BASED ON INFORMATION AVAILABLE AT THE TIME OF WRITING.DUE TO THE ONGOING NATURE OF HERITAGE RESEARCH, FUTURE REASSESSMENT OF THIS HERITAGE ITEM MAY BE NECESSARY TO REFLECT ANY CHANGES IN KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF ITS HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE. DISTRICT PLAN –LISTED HERITAGE PLACE PLEASE USE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE CCC HERITAGE FILES. HERITAGE ASSESSMENT –STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
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