A fountain built as a tribute to a local businessman 116 years ago and a statue which for seven years was headless are among four Napier memorials which have received heritage recognition.
The Blythe Fountain in Clive Square, named as an honour to William Robert Blythe, and the South AfricanWar Memorial on Marine Parade whose proudly standing trooper lost his head in the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake are joined by the Cenotaph in Memorial Square and the 1897 Flood Heroism Memorial on Marine Parade in being listed as Category 2 historic places.
They have been recognised by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and added to the New Zealand Heritage List.
"These memorials are all historically and socially important to the city and are valued civic monuments," Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Central Region area manager Karen Astwood said.
Three of the memorials are sombre in that they reflect loss of life, while the Blythe Fountain was built as a tribute and celebration of what Astwood described as the "civic-minded efforts of one man".
Among the many community activities he supported Blythe was devoted to the development and beautification of Clive Square, so soon after his death in 1903 a fundraising committee was formed to have an appropriate tribute to him built.
The Napier Borough Council gave its blessing for the fountain's appropriate site.
The fountain, and the South African War Memorial near the Masonic, both feature lions with the staunch beast on the memorial symbolising New Zealand's place in the empire.
It was completed in 1906 but was shattered by the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake and was not rebuilt until 1947.
The South African War Memorial on Marine Parade.
And for seven years there was a mystery to it — someone had made off with the trooper's head after the quake.
"It appears someone souvenired it," Astwood said. "The head was only recovered again in 1938."
The Cenotaph in Memorial Square was unveiled in 1924 and is the site for Anzac services.
"Like other communities around the country, Napier was heavily impacted by the First World War and the Cenotaph was one of the ways residents chose to demonstrate their grief and pride in the sacrifice of their war dead."
The Flood Heroism Memorial on Marine Parade.
The Cenotaph was later updated to recognise New Zealand's service in WWII and other conflicts it had troops involved in.
Astwood said the 1897 Flood Heroism Memorial, constructed in 1900, combined the themes of the other structures because it commemorated community spirit and self-sacrifice.
During flooding at Clive some Napier residents embarked on a rescue mission that came to a tragic end with 10 men drowned — with only four bodies recovered.
