Camperdown Boer War Memorial
Finlay Avenue CAMPERDOWN, Corangamite Shire
Statement of Significance
The Empire War Memorial in the Finlay Avenue at Camperdown was initially intended to be erected to the memory of Private Arthur Jones, a Camperdown resident who, at the outbreak of hostilities, volunteered for service with the Victoria Mounted Rifles First contingent in the Boer War conflict in Southern Africa and who died on active service at Kroonstadt on 24 October 1900. Before the monument was completed, another local casualty, Trooper John J. Lawrence of the Fifth contingent was killed in action at Schurreberg Stoek on 23 August 1901 and his name was also affixed to the memorial.
The memorial was erected by public subscription and the design and tender of the Warrnambool monumental masons and sculptors Wooles and Carpenter was accepted in March 1901. The Carrara marble statue of a Victoria Mounted Rifleman was carved in Italy and reputedly was a stylised reproduction of Private Arthur Jones' image. The supporting pedestal, in a reduced classical style, is fashioned from a base of Harcourt rusticated granite and a superstructure of imported Hill of Fare polished granite with an elaborate white marble cap serving as the base for the statue. The memorial was originally enclosed with a decorative iron railing.
War memorials are a feature of most country towns in Australia and the Empire Memorial at Camperdown is one of the first built in honour of Australian soldiers who died in the Boer War in South Africa. The substantial stone monument is of outstanding design and craftsmanship, with the distinctive figure of the Victoria Mounted Rifleman being carved of Carrara marble in Italy and incorporating the stylised image of Private Arthur Jones. Later World War I monuments used mass-produced stereotyped figures. The evocative and heroic Empire Monument at Camperdown, by example and through publicity generated at the time, clearly influenced the subsequent aesthetic and spiritual development of war memorials in Victoria. The monument is a distinguished work of the Warrnambool monumental masons and sculptors Wooles and Carpenter. The Significance of the monument is clearly enhanced by its central setting in the Finlay Avenue and its dominant position in the Manifold Clock Tower precinct.
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FINLAY AVENUE OF ELMS, MANIFOLD CLOCK TOWER AND PUBLIC MONUMENT PRECINCT
Victorian Heritage Register H0647 -
COURT HOUSE
Victorian Heritage Register H1385
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AJ THOMAS MOTOR GARAGE
Victorian Heritage Register H1383
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'Mororo' 13 Oxford Street, Malvern
Stonnington City -
1 Arnold Street
Yarra City -
1 Austin Street
Yarra City
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