The Karori Crematorium and Chapel is situated within the Karori Cemetery, Wellington. Built in 1909, this brick building in the Edwardian-Romanesque style is the earliest crematorium facility in New Zealand, and is notable for the Irish-made stained glass windows in the chapel area. Proposals for cremation in Wellington date back to at least 1888 when William Ferguson (engineer and secretary of the Wellington Harbour Board) suggested that an additional furnace be added to the planned City Destructor (a rubbish disposal facility) for this purpose. While there was some support for this idea in the newspapers, it was not actioned. However, following growing support for cremation in general in Europe, Britain and Australia, a lobby group in Wellington found some backers within the Wellington City Council. Hence when a new cemetery was planned to open at Karori in 1891, an acre was set aside as a crematorium site. No finance was made available for construction at this time, as ratepayers were unwilling to sanction necessary loans for many public works. The turning point leading eventually to the construction of the facility came in 1906 when Miss Studholme (daughter of the prominent South Island runholder, John Studholme) campaigned vigorously for cremation on public health grounds. Subscriptions to a Crematorium Fund were sought from the public and the City Council also undertook to contribute finance. A preliminary plan of a crematorium was drawn up by John Sidney Swan in February 1907 showing a Gothic-style timber building with the necessary chimney concealed in what appeared to be a bell tower. A builder's estimate of about £500 was attached, although this did not include the cost of the furnace. William H. Morton, City Engineer, was asked to comment on the plans and was unhappy with the proposal for a timber building surrounding a high temperature furnace. He then drafted an alternative building in brick. There were further discussions aimed at reducing costs. A slightly modified plan resulted and specifications were written. His plans (drafted by Charles E. Stone of his department) were initially completed in October 1908 and the building was constructed by James Priddey in 1909 once the furnace had arrived from England. The Crematorium and Chapel are combined in one building (a separate chapel elsewhere in the cemetery, commonly known as the Mortuary or Jewish Chapel, was used for burials). The Crematorium and Chapel building is of a simple single-storey design, made of brick with a Marseille tile roof and cast iron and galvanised iron guttering. The pitched roof is slightly offset near the north-eastern end, where the furnace and modern furnace chimney (appearing like a short bell tower) are situated. The original large chimney base partially projects from the south eastern side of the building near the furnace end, with an attached 4 metre by 6 metre windowless brick fan and storage shed adjoining it. Internally, the chapel area contains eight timber pews seating about 32 people, with three Irish-made semicircular-headed stained glass windows spaced along the walls on both sides, and two more windows flanking the door. Subsequent additions and modifications to the building have been in the same style and have generally complemented the functional design. The first cremation at Karori was that of John Jack, a former Harbour Board member, on 2 November 1909. He had left instructions that his ashes were to be interred in a family grave in Dundee. By 1909, crematoria had been established already in Adelaide, South Australia (1903) and also in Melbourne (1906). However, Wellington was the first of the major New Zealand cities to have such a facility, followed by Auckland at about the time of the First World War. Subsequent early alterations at Karori Crematorium largely enhanced its historic value. The major change of this nature was the addition of the six stained glass windows. These were commissioned 1914-1939 from the Irish glass company An Tur Gloine ('Tower of Glass'). Five of the windows commemorate members of the Ferguson family, including the same William Ferguson who had the idea for a crematory furnace in 1888. William Ferguson himself ordered the first four windows from Dublin and may have known Sarah Purser, a painter who was one of the founding members of the studio. William studied at Trinity College Dublin, where Sarah's family had connections. The Karori Crematorium and Chapel, dating from 1909, is the first of the major-city crematorium facilities in New Zealand, and one of the earliest in the Southern hemisphere. A brick building built in an Edwardian Romanesque style, it is also significant for the outstanding Irish-made stained glass windows in the chapel area, considered to be the most important set of twentieth century imported windows of their kind in New Zealand. They are also the most significant group of windows produced by the Dublin glass-making studio An Tur Gloine which exist outside Eire and Northern Ireland.
Location
List Entry Information
Overview
Detailed List Entry
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
1399
Date Entered
11th November 1988
Date of Effect
11th November 1988
City/District Council
Wellington City
Region
Wellington Region
Legal description
Pt Sec 33 Karori District (RT WN485/211), Wellington Land District
Location Description
The Karori Crematorium and Chapel is located some 300 metres along the main cemetery driveway from the cemetery entrance gates off Old Karori Road. The building lies immediately to the east of the driveway in a fold of the land which rises to rolling country both to the east and to the west.
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