Albert Park

Albert Park is bounded by Wellesley Street East, Bowen Avenue and Kitchener Street.  It was laid out on the site of the Albert Barracks, one of New Zealand’s early military fortifications, of which one wall remains.  The park was laid out in the 1880s and used to have commanding views over the city and harbour.   The Park contains a statue of Queen Victoria by Francis J. Williamson (1833-1920), commissioned at the time of her Diamond Jubilee in 1897.  Williamson also sculpted Sir George Grey in 1904.  There is a Boer War Memorial, a bandstand, and a fountain adorned with statues of dolphins ridden by cherubs blowing horns which spout water and topped with a female figure. 

Underneath the park is the Albert Park Tunnels, constructed as air raid shelters in 1941 during the Second World War.  Fortunately, they were not needed.