Description:
In the 60 hectare park of Jeurre Castle, north of Etampes, France.
There are four monuments in the park, one of which is the Cook Cenotaph, the others are the dairy, the rostral column and the temple of filial piety.
The Cook monument, is in the Greek style, in the form of a centotaph. It has the bust of Cook, sculpted by Augustin Payou (1730-1809), and with the relief of a lion slaying an eagle, also there are four heads of savages. At the top is an urn, and the whole is surrounded by 4 Doric columns. The monument is protected around by iron railings.
History:
Erected soon after the death of Captain Cook at the end of the 18th century, in what were originally the gardens at Méréville of the banker of Louis XV, the Marquis of Laborde, near Etampes (Seine et Oise).
The four monuments, designed by Hubert Robert (1733-1808) in 1784, were, on the sale of Méréville, acquired in 1895 by the present owner of Jeurre’s grandfather. They were taken down stone by stone, the stones were numbered and rebuilt at Jeurre, 25 km distant from Méréville.
The monuments are classified historical monuments.
Inscription:
The poet, Fr Jacques Delille, composed verses which are engraved in marble, and the Marquis de Laborde himself composed the verses on the pediment in letters of gold.
Latitude/Longitude: 46°22’06”N, 5°42’29”E
References:
Cook’s Log, page 1871, vol. 24, no.3 (2001)
The Times, 2.12.1908.
Yorkshire Post & Leeds Intelligencer, 21.7.1928. p.16.
Website: http://le91.free.fr/tourisme/jeurre.htm
Website: http://desertderetz.info/archive.htm
Website: www.parcdejeurre.fr/le-cenotaphe-de-cook-view-13-6.html (with photograph)