Captain Scott's statue stands just a minute's walk from Cathedral Square near the banks of the Avon. Scott, a British Royal Naval Officer, is best known for his 1912 Terra Nova Expedition. Expecting to be the first to reach the South Pole, Scott and his party not only lost out to Roald Amundsen's Norwegian team, but perished in dire conditions on the return journey.
The pedestal's main plaque reads in part from Scott's diary: "I do not regret this journey which shows that Englishmen can endure hardships, help one another, and meet death with as great fortitude as ever in the past." The monument, unveiled in 1917, is all the more fascinating for having been sculpted by his widow, Kathleen Scott.