Parties, graffiti mar castle
The battle to save a historic Dunedin castle has been set back by graffiti and illegal parties.
Cargill’s Castle Trust chairman Steven De Graaf has a blunt message for those adding to the decay: ’’Watch out if we catch you.’’
The trust’s efforts to preserve the 21-room Italianate-styled castle are being thwarted by trespassers attracted to the cliff-top ruins.
‘‘It’s almost like desecrating a tombstone and graveyard. It is a 140-year-old heritage one listed building . . . they should have a bit more respect.’’
The trust issued a plea on Facebook for the parties and graffiti to stop, after the castle was tagged again last weekend.
‘‘It’s so frustrating, we are gathering a bit of momentum and then this,’’ De Graaf said.
Earlier this week, a group of about ‘‘20 were seen wandering around’’ the site, which is closed to the public.
Trespassers were accessing the site through private driveways and sections, which was ‘‘far from ideal’’.
‘‘It is dark and it is dangerous,’’ De Graaf said of the castle’s location.
Alcohol cans had been found at the site, and swastikas and graffiti were spray-painted on the walls.
The trust wanted to upgrade the fencing ‘‘to make it a little bit harder for people’’, before stabilising the remains and making it safe for public access in the future.
‘‘However, this is taking time, energy and funds that could be better spent on the castle.’’
The castle’s origin can be traced back to 1876, and is now owned by the trust which managed to save it from demolition.
It was built for prominent businessman Edward Cargill and was originally known as The Cliffs.
Cargill, a former Member of Parliament and mayor of the city, enlisted Francis Petre as architect
Damaged by fire in 1892, the castle’s interior was rebuilt by Cargill who died 11 years later.
His daughter, Margaret, who inherited the house, later married the architect Petre.
The building was sold several times, and used as a family home, restaurant, cabaret, and as a centre for evangelical worship.
Plans to convert the building to a hotel were thwarted in the 1970s, and the building was then left to deteriorate.
Heritage New Zealand noted the castle ‘‘was a prominent example of a ‘gentlemen’s residence’; a style and scale of building which looked back to British precedents of landed gentry with substantial houses and grounds’’.
‘‘Its subsequent history of use also represents the change of use of such mansions once on sold by their original owners, a fate of decay and decline reflective of Dunedin’s fortunes.’’
"Watch out if we catch you." Cargill's Castle Trust chairman Steven De Graaf