WELLINGTON
More engagement needed to conserve our historic cemeteries Historic cemeteries form a significant part of our New Zealand landscape, but many are not receiving the care they need. WORDS: David Watt
IMAGES: Friends of Karori Cemetery
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emeteries provide a wealth of knowledge about our history, our early settlers and our ancestors, as well as information about prominent political and community leaders who played important roles in the development of our towns and cities. For decades, families and friends have been the guardians of these final resting places. As the years have gone on, however, the process of protecting these places of rest has become exceedingly difficult.
Barbara Mulligan, Vice Chair of the Friends of the Karori Cemetery, Wellington, has lived alongside the cemetery for many years. As New Zealand's second largest cemetery, after Waikemete in Auckland, covering an area of nearly 40 hectares, it is the final resting place for over 85,000 people including six former New Zealand Prime Ministers, Wellington Mayors, business and community leaders, services personnel, and others. It also includes the burial places for many hundreds of people who perished in several tragic events in our history. It was at the forefront of the movement away from burial to cremation. The crematorium Chapel (Category 1 listed), constructed in 1909 was the first to be built in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Karori Cemetery reflects the development of Wellington city from 1891 onwards through two world wars, the 1918 Flu pandemic and the economic depression of the 1930s. A total of 9,000 people died throughout New Zealand during the Flu pandemic. In Wellington city, 14
Heritage Quarterly
some 700 people died between November and December 1918. In one day alone, 63 funerals were conducted at the Karori Cemetery. Barbara, who has great passion for conservation, was determined to do something to commemorate the centenary of that tragic event in Wellington, leading the charge with fellow volunteers' support to repair and mark the graves of those who lost their lives with white crosses. It was a significant achievement. The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister visited these graves before Christmas, to see the extent of this tragedy and loss of life. “This conservation work was a huge undertaking using all the resources we had on hand,” said Barbara. “I was pleased Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson, who has worked closely with us on our conservation objectives, wanted to see these graves on a quiet informal Saturday afternoon.” “We are following the guidance of Council and the Conservation Plan that conservation architect, Chris Cochran, prepared for the Karori Cemetery in 2003. I cannot stress enough the importance of following the right advice around helping to restore graves. You cannot cut corners doing repairs, otherwise significant damage will be done to these historic structures.” Chris Cochran is a Board Member for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and sits on Heritage New Zealand's Māori Heritage Council.
TOP LEFT: PM Jacinda Ardern and Deputy PM Grant Robertson coming away from graves of victims of the 1918 Flu pandemic at Karori Cemetery. TOP RIGHT: School leavers from Karori Normal School on a day trip from the cemetery going up to the historic Crematorium. BELOW: Volunteers undertaking conservation work in an old part of Karori Cemetery.
“We have several priorities going forward, especially to clarify current legislation pertaining to cemeteries such as who can repair/restore a grave. This is a significant issue for all authorities and volunteer groups working in our historic cemeteries.” Ian Bowman, another prominent conservation architect, has considerable experience advising on cemeteries conservation. “Ian has seen some horrors in his travels, as I have too, around damage to gravestones by people not following proper procedures. Ian points to the principles of ICOMOS New Zealand, and to other well-established guidance and practice at historic cemeteries overseas.” Barbara wants to see a strengthening of relationships between volunteer groups and trusts working in cemeteries with Councils, with conservation experts, and with various other professional organisations who are linked with cemeteries. “We need a national conference of minds around the future management and conservation of our cemeteries, to share our thoughts and to establish better working practices between our various bodies. I would also like to see opportunities for volunteers to be trained on how to better maintain and conserve our cemeteries. At the moment, for health and safety reasons, there is a barrier to this being achieved.” “We also need more support from funding institutions to help make our support count,” says Barbara. n NGAHURU • AUTUMN 2022
