Statue of Robert Falcon Scott, Christchurch

This statue of Robert Falcon Scott, here at the intersection of Worcester Street and Oxford Terrace, was unveiled in 1917, commemorating the British Antarctic explorer. Scott likely died on March 29, 1912, during his Terra Nova Expedition to the South Pole. When news of his death became public on February 10, 1913, locals here in Christchurch organised a committee within a week to create this memorial.

Scott’s widow, Kathleen Scott, was commissioned to carve the statue. She traveled to a marble quarry in Carrara, Italy, to carve it in March 1916. Her work was shipped to New Zealand later that year and unveiled on February 9, 1917. This statue is one of the few monuments recognizing early 20th-century Antarctic exploration.

Christchurch and Lyttelton had been Scott’s New Zealand base for his Discovery Expedition from 1901 to 1904 and the Terra Nova Expedition from 1910 to 1913. Scott and his companions had a strong connection with the people of the Canterbury Region. The Terra Nova arrived in Lyttelton Harbour on October 28, 1910, and locals welcomed the explorers, helping supply their expeditions. Many gathered on November 28, 1910, to bid them farewell before they continued to Antarctica.

The objective of the Terra Nova Expedition was to be the first to reach the South Pole. Scott and his four companions reached the pole on January 17, 1912, only to find that a Norwegian team had preceded them by 34 days. They struggled with weather and resource shortages on their return, and Scott and his two final companions set up their tent for the last time on March 19. Scott was unable to walk, and with limited resources and only two days of food, their deaths were certain. Scott presumably was the last to die, likely on March 29.

A search party found their bodies in a tent on November 12. The Terra Nova returned home, arriving in Oamaru on February 10, 1913. Two members of the expedition sent a coded message to the organiser, and when the ship reached Lyttelton Harbour on February 12, the city was in mourning, with flags at half-mast.

The statue itself is a 2.6-meter white marble sculpture depicting Captain Scott in polar dress, holding a bronze alpenstock. It faces north towards the Old Municipal Chambers building and sits on a concrete foundation and a stone plinth. The statue weighs about 2.5 tonnes.

In February 2011, during the Christchurch earthquake, the statue toppled from its plinth and broke in two. It was later reinstated in its original location on October 26, 2017, unveiled a second time by Scott’s descendants and the former Mayor of Christchurch. This statue reflects Christchurch’s connection with Antarctica and the British Empire and is recognized by Heritage New Zealand as a Category II historic place.