Spruce-up for historic Whanganui war memorial statue

Work on Moutoa Monument should be completed by the end of June. Photo / Bevan Conley.

New Zealand's oldest war memorial - which stands in Whanganui's Pākaitore/Moutoa Gardens - is being refurbished and is to have a new interpretation panel.

Work began on the famous Weeping Woman statue on May 26, and Pākaitore Historic Reserve Board chairman Jay Rerekura said the work should be finished by the end of the month.

The refurbishment is being done by Manawatu Museum Services, which also undertook the much longer job of repairing the gardens' Great War memorial. The team includes conservator Detlef Klein and Whanganui sculptor Aaron Te Rangiao.

The work was instigated by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, which is responsible for that monument and for 4000 war graves.

The memorial was erected by the Province of Wellington on behalf of Whanganui's European settlers who were grateful for Whanganui Māori who stopped upriver Māori invading their fledgling settlement when they clashed in the battle of Moutoa on an island in the Whanganui River near Ranana on May 14, 1864.

The grateful settlers commissioned a monument in white marble of a weeping woman, representing grief. It was formally unveiled in December 1865.

Its inscription reads: "To the memory of those brave men who fell at Moutoa 14 May 1864 in defence of law and order against fanaticism and barbarism."

That wording annoyed famous American writer Mark Twain when he visited Whanganui in 1895.

In his 1897 book about his travels in Australia and New Zealand he said those upriver men who fell were patriots, fighting for their homes and country, and they were not fanatics.

The controversial wording is "archaic", says Whanganui mayor Hamish McDouall who is pleased an interpretation panel is to be erected near the monument, explaining that the wording is "of its time".

Wording for that panel is now being approved by Whanganui iwi.

Mr McDouall was pleased the memorial was being preserved - "It's really good that the ministry have come along to do this. We've been working through the other monuments and they are spruced up and looking great."

The Queen's Chain at Pākaitore/Moutoa Gardens has yet to be given attention.