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Canterbury University College memorial window

Image
Memorial window, Christchurch

Canterbury University College memorial window.

From the memorial window at Canterbury College (now the Arts Centre), Christchurch. The artist was an Englishman, Martin Travers, and the whole window is in the shape of Britain.

Additional information from Wil Wright:
The memorial stained glass window commemorates the staff and students from the University of Canterbury who fought in the First World War. Over 400 staff and students served throughout the war, of whom 98 were killed and over 20% wounded.

The image (from the top) depicts the mother of humanity, with her babies representing the future generations. Famous historical people are standing on an island of civilization, around this is the sea of chaos, the Roman numerals date the war (1914 – 1918) and the mass of famous historical figures represent Truth, Justice, Courage and Humanity. The ship on the left of the image is HMS Resolution, which Captain James Cook commanded. At the bottom New Zealand soldiers can be seen fighting hydra monsters which represent Brutality and Ignorance (the Hun).

SiteStyleOrnamentationUnveiling Date No of Dead
School groundsWindow  27-Sep-19380

Image
Memorial window, Christchurch

Credit

Jock Phillips and Chris Maclean, c1986 and Glennis Austin, 2005

How to cite this page

Canterbury University College memorial window, URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/memorials/christchurch-memorial-window, (Manatū Taonga — Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated


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