Ambury Memorial - 1918

The Ambury Monument (which sits 100m above The Camphouse, North Taranaki) was erected in 1919 to honour Arthur Hamilton Ambury who died while trying to rescue a climber on the mountain.

Ambury was a 37-year-old experienced climber from New Plymouth who was climbing on June 3 1918 with his wife and some friends when he noticed two other men having difficulty descending the mountain. One of the men, William Gourlay, slipped on ice and as Ambury tried to arrest Gourlay’s fall, he also slipped, and the pair fell to their death.

The memorial stone obelisk was unveiled the following year. In 2021 a restoration project of the monument was undertaken that saw monument cleaned and loose and crumbling mortar replaced.

Text on the plaque reads: To commemorate the heroism of Arthur Hamilton Ambury who gave his life in attempting to rescue William E. Gourlay who slipped on ice at an altitude of 6300 feet on Egmont on June 3^rd 1918. Near to renunciation, very near dwelleth eternal peace.