Cemetery Station No. 1 railway station, Sydney

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Haslem's Creek Cemetery station c1865^[1]

Cemetery Station No. 1 was a railway station on Sydney's Rookwood Cemetery railway line. It served the Rookwood Cemetery.

[edit] History

The Cemetery No.1 Train station was set up as part of the Rookwood Cemetery Train line. There was a feeling that funeral processions could be more dignified (and easier) if more official stations were created to replace the ones made from the original corrugated iron and timber structures. A scheme set up to separate funeral operations from the ordinary railway by the establishment of new platforms began in 1868 with the building of the Cemetery station inside the Necropolis. ^[2]

The station opened as Haslem's Creek Cemetery Station on 1 April 1867. Some time before 1872, the station name was changed to Necropolis. The station was called Mortuary Terminus before having its name changed to Mortuary General Cemetery on 26 July 1897, when its name was transferred to a new terminus station. Finally the name was changed to Cemetery Station No. 1 on 15 June 1908, before the station closed on 29 December 1948.^[1]

The features of the sandstone Receiving House Station included wide platforms, a ticket office, 2 vestibules, retiring rooms and a carriage port. ^[3] This building was elaborately decorated in a similar style to the Regents Street railway station in Redfern. The sculptors Thomas Ducket and Henry Apperly work included angels, cherubs, gargoyles and various foliage carvings featuring flowers, pears, sycamores, apples and pomegranates ^[4]. Again, black and white floor tiles created by Cumberland pottery were laid in a tessellated pattern on the floors.^[5]

The building spanned the terminus of the railway line into the cemetery so it created a tunnel effect. It covered an area of 35 x 13 metres and was approximately 6 metres high, being carried on 12 columns. An arch at each end of the building was approximately 12 metres high and 13 metres wide at the base. ^[6] The Northern Arch was decorated with two angels opposite each other on the inner side of the arches. One angel appeared to be holding a scroll (which may have been the Judgement book) and its eyes were closed. The other angel was set to look down the railway line and held a trumpet in its hands which probably symbolized the Resurrection.^[7] The building was also fitted with a bell-cote for housing a bell that was used during the funeral services. The bell was tolled to warn passengers of the impending departure time. It is said (but not verified) that the bell would ring as each train arrived. However, it has been confirmed that between 1910 and 1920 the bell was rung 30 minutes before the train was to depart to warn the passengers. ^[8] It rang again when there was 5 minutes left to departure.^[9]

The station building, now All Saints Church in Canberra

The station was an ornate stone building. After its closure the station building was dismantled and moved to Canberra in 1958, where it is now All Saints Church. The rebuilt church contains some modifications, the most obvious of which is the change in position of the bell tower to the opposite side.^[10]

In the middle of 2000 work began to improve the station site (at Rookwood) and to restore the original pathways. Some of the restoration work included; exposing the gutters, uncovering the foundations of the platform, indicating the former locations of the structural columns and re-gravelling the pathways ^[11]

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b State Rail Authority of New South Wales Archives Section (1982). How & Why of Station Names: meanings and origins..., second edition, State Rail Authority of New South Wales.
^ Ochert, M.S. (1998) The Mortuary Station to Rookwood in Locality, 9 (2) pp.23-26.
^ Buckle, E.G. (1987) A station of the cross : All Saints Anglican Church, Ainslie, Canberra, The Church.
^ Buckle, E.G. (1987)
^ Ochert, M.S. (1998)
^ Singleton, C.C. (1989) The Rookwood Cemetery Line in The Sleeping City: The Story of Rookwood, Society of Australian Genealogists, NSW
^ Singleton, C.C. (1989)
^ Singleton, C.C. (1989)
^ Ochert, 1998
^ Heritage. All Saint's Church Ainslie.
^ Friends of Rookwood (2002) A Rookwood Ramble (book). A short self guided walking tour, NSW.