Wakapuaka Cemetery
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Wakapuaka Cemetery is a cemetery located in Atawhai, Nelson, New Zealand. The name means "heaps of aka leaves" in Māori [1].
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[edit] Location
Wakapuaka Cemetery is located at the southern end of Atawhai Drive in Nelson. The cemetery is located on a hill with a north west aspect. Therefore the cemetery looks over the Nelson Haven, the Boulder Bank, Tasman Bay, and Nelson city.
[edit] History
The area was first designated a cemetery zone on November 18, 1861. The first burial was conducted on the 9th of December, 1861. The first person buried was Grace Annie who was 16 months old. The crematorium was erected in 1945 and has been extended since this date. There is a small chapel, the Garin Memorial Chapel Dedicated to St. Michael also on this site. The Wakapuaka Cemetery now covers an area of 140,000 square metres. Over 16000 people have been buried in the cemetery. There are many notable people buried in this cemetery, including the victims of the Maungatapu murders. The cemetery is easily accessed and is currently a registered walk of Nelson [1].
[edit] The Garin Memorial Chapel
This chapel is dedicated to the first Catholic priest who served in Nelson, Father Garin. He served 48 years in New Zealand, and never returned back to his home in France [2]. The chapel was completed in the October of 1890. The chapel is only seven meters long and has a width of five meters. The stone was sourced from Canterbury and Otago. Somerville designed the chapel. Father Garin is buried in the chapel's crypt [2].
[edit] References
- ^ a b Venner, Rosemary A. (2005). The Wakapuaka Cemetery. A place to walk and wonder. Atawhai, Nelson, New Zealand: Self Published.
- ^ a b Clark, Diana & Tony (2007). The Garin Memorial Chapel.
[edit] External links
