Cargill's Castle

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The ruins of Cargill’s Castle stand on a promontory overlooking the Pacific Ocean in New Zealand’s southern city of Dunedin. It is one of only two castles in New Zealand, the other being nearby Larnach Castle. More a castle in name than in fact, this mansion was built for Edward Cargill, one of the sons of city founder William Cargill, in the late 19th century, who called it The Cliffs. Designed by the architect Francis Petre, it was largely destroyed in a fire in the 1940s and is today just a shell. Plans have been made on several occasions to restore the building to its former glory, but none have yet borne fruit, although the building is currently (January 2006) surrounded by scaffolding and evidently being restored.

Close to the castle is Tunnel Beach, so named because this quiet beach is only accessible through a steeply sloping tunnel cut into the 60-metre high cliffs by the Cargill family. The beach is reached via a public walking track, some six kilometres southwest of the city centre.