Westland Explorers' Monument

Westland Explorers' Monument
Westland Explorers' Monument at Hokitika Cemetery
LocationHokitika Cemetery, New Zealand
Coordinates42°42′32.4″S 170°58′29.5″E / 42.709000°S 170.974861°E / -42.709000; 170.974861
Built1868
Built forFour early explorers who died on the West Coast
Governing bodyWestland District Council

The Westland Explorers' Monument, also known as the Explorers' Monument, is an obelisk in Hokitika, New Zealand. It commemorates four men who lost their lives on the West Coast of the South Island between 1863 and 1866. The impetus for its erection in 1868 was the 1866 murder of George Dobson, and early on the monument was referred to as the Dobson Memorial. It was then referred to as the Weld Street Monument in reference to its original location in the centre of the intersection of Weld and Sewell streets. Deemed a traffic impediment, it was shifted to Hokitika Cemetery in 1880, but an even larger structure, the Hokitika Clock Tower, was put in its place at this intersection in 1902/1903.