Symonds Street Cemetery

Symonds Street Cemetery St Martins Lane Karangahape Road Key Rose Trail Walkway Trail guide for the Jewish, Presbyterian and Catholic areas Symonds Street Informal route Rose Trail 1 A 3 2 A Cemetery entrance 4 1 Feature in trail guide Known grave 23 Labelled tree/plant 24 5 6 Grafton Cycleway/ 22 25 walkway 8 7 9 10 Upper Queen Street Auckland’s oldest public Grafton Bridge cemetery 11 H 12 This trail guide will show you many interesting parts of G 13 the Jewish, Presbyterian and Catholic sections of the Symonds Street Cemetery. F Symonds Street You’ll uncover the stories of many interesting people who were buried here, as well as those of significant 15 14 21 specimen trees and old roses in this part of the cemetery, which is is also an important urban forest.. 16 To walk the trail will take about 30 minutes. Follow the 20 19 red markers. It is the most accessible part of Auckland’s oldest public cemetery. 18 17 I Most of this trail follows formed paths. Please do not walk across the graves. J There are two more self-guided trails on the other side So uth of Symonds Street. The Hobson Walk covers many ern M m important graves in the Anglican and General/Wesleyan a o e to r sectors. Bishop Selwyn’s Path and the Waiparuru Nature rw t a S y u Trail have more detail about Grafton Bridge and the r u r ecology of the forested gully. You can access more a p ai information on our mobile app (see back page). W S o u th e Alex Evans St rn M Symonds Street o to rw a y St Martins Lane Karangahape Road Influence meant the Anglicans got first choice and the Symonds Street biggest site. Presbyterians were initially dissatisfied with their allotment, saying it had the poorest views. The Catholic Cemetery once connected to St Benedict’s Church, now on the 1 A other side of the motorway. 3 2 4 Heritage and botanical discovery Information about the graves is found in this Trail Guide, with more in the STQRY app. Trees on this trail are identified by labels on the ground near their bases. There is also more 23 information on the ecology of the entire urban forest of the 24 5 cemetery in the STQRY app. 6 22 Early view of Auckland, showing the ridgeline that is now Symonds 25 Street. Mitford, John Guise, 1843. Alexander Turnbull Library, Ref: Old roses: living antiques 8 7 E-216-f-111. 9 The roses growing in profusion over the graves are heritage autumn, and sometimes forms bright orange rose hips. items too. Many are ‘old roses’– cultivars that went out of 10 What came before Upper Queen Street fashion. Old roses usually have more, smaller, and more open Blanc Double de Courbet grows to a bush up to 2.15m high, Grafton Bridge This cemetery is located at a cross roads of Māori trails inland flowers. Modern varieties usually have bigger, heavier blooms. and is recommended for colder climates. from the coastal fishing villages of Horotiu and Waipapa at 11 the bottom of Queen Street and Parnell Rise to nearby Pā Volunteers from the Symonds Street Cemetery Friends and 3 Italian cypress (Cupressus sempervirens ‘stricta’) the Heritage Roses Society workH together to maintain the (fortified villages) at Maungawhau-Mt Eden. The Newton 12 13 Gully is called Te Uru Karaka which had a tended orchard roses, and to prepare for a fine show in the summer.G If you’d Evergreen conifer, native to eastern Mediterranean region. of karaka trees, the fruit of which were a source of food and like to join in, contact them on their Facebook pages. These trees have long-standing spiritual associations.F This may medicine while the caterpillar found in the leaf litter was burnt Start the walk at entrance A, go into the Jewish section, be from their shape, and their scented wood, which wasSymonds used Street and combined with shark oil to produce the ink for moko keep to the right and walk to the old gate. in the doors of St Peter’s basilica in Rome. (Māori tattoo). 1415 21 1 Cork oak (Quercus suber) This part of the cemetery 16 Evergreen, from Portugal, Spain Different denominations (churches within the same religion) and western Mediterranean1920 have varying approaches to theology (the study of God and The main feature of cork oaks religion). Five cemeteries were laid out here, to allow space for 18 17 different religious communities’ burials. is their thick, soft bark, which is I the source for wine corks. The They were for Anglican, Catholic, Jewish, Presbyterian, and insulating bark is an adaptation General (including Wesleyan/Methodist) burials. The open to forest fire. J space at the corner of Symonds Street and Karangahape Road, So Cork oaksu canth be tall trees, up around the large bronze sculpture is unofficially known as ern to 20m, but are usually shorter m Pigeon Park. It was part of the area originally allocated for M a o e in their natural habitat. to r Jewish burials, but this was never used as a cemetery. rw t Bark of the cork oak. a Rosa Blanc Double de Coubert. Italian Cypress. S y u r u r Who you were, counted a 2 Rosa Blanc Double de Coubert Cypresses are symbols of mourning in many religions – ip Nineteenth century society in New Zealand was structured a Christian, Jewish, Muslim – and are a feature of cemeteries W along denominational lines. What church you belonged to had Also known as The Muslin Rose, this variety was planted in around the world. They are resistant to fire. a major influence on your status, your connections, and your 2005 in the cemetery, by Heritage Roses Society members. It’s opportunities. That’s why this cemetery was so clearly divided a rugusa rose, bred by Charles Cochet in France in 1892. The Nathans’ inclined slab tombs, in an eastern into denominational areas. They reflected the ratio of people The flowers are white clusters of petals with a strong Mediterranean style, are in a fenced plot in the Jewish sector. of different churches in Auckland at the time. fragrance, which open out into flat blooms during summer and S o u th e Alex Evans St rn M Symonds Street o to rw a y St Martins Lane Karangahape Road Symonds Street 1 A 3 2 The Hendersons, with Catherine’s brothers John and Henry 4 5 Kauri (Agathus australis) Macfarlane immediately went to Auckland, arriving before the Evergreen conifer, endemic to first European-style houses had even been built. New Zealand. Henderson built the Commercial Hotel at a cost of $2000. 23 The biggest trees in New He employed about 300 Māori in gum digging. He developed Zealand forests, though not the 24 5 New Zealand’s first commercial sailing ship fleet, the Circular tallest. They evolved massive 6 Saw Line, and also traded in copra from the Pacific Islands. trunks, without lower branches. 22 25 Henderson sold off the sailing ships Constance, Kate and Neva, This species is unique to the and bought the 500 ton steamships Lord Ashley, Airdale and 8 7 upper North Island. 9 Haversham. 10 Kauri timber is highly valued Henderson also helped establish the Bank of New Zealand, the Upper Queen Street for boatbuilding and furniture- New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, the New making.Grafton Gum that Bridge seeps from Male kauri cone. Zealand Insurance Company and the Auckland Gas Company. 4 Nathan family plot the tree trunks was used as an The Auckland suburb of Henderson bears his name. 11 ingredient in making varnish. Excessive weeping of gum shows H David Nathan landed in an unhealthy tree. Thomas and Catherine Henderson are buried side-by-side in 12 G Kororareka13 in the Bay of Islands the Presbyterian section. Their headstone in an architectural on February 21, 1840. He had The trees are are threatened by kauri dieback disease, a soil- form symbolically represents the house of God in miniature. sailed fromF Sydney on January borne pathogen which causes tree death. You can help stop 31 on the barque AchillesSymonds Streetand the disease spreading by cleaning your shoes before and after Carefully cross the cemetery towards the diagonal path. arrived just two weeks after the being near kauri trees. 1415 signing of the historic Treaty of 8 Rosa William Lobb 21 Waitangi. 6 Liquidambar (Liquidambar Also known as Duchesse d’Istrie 16 styraciflua) Nathan set up a store on the and Old Velvet Moss, this rose 1920 waterfront at Kororareka Deciduous, native to SE USA variety is widely grown in New (Russell), stocked with goods and Mexico, with a vibrant Zealand. It was bred in 1855 by he had brought from England. Jean Laffay, and named after 18 17 David Nathan, 1861. John display of red autumn leaves. I When it became clear that the William Lobb, a Cornish plant Schmidt, Alexander Turnbull Their distinctive spiky fruit have Library, Ref: 1/2-004975-G. capital would be transferred to collector, who introduced to Auckland, he shifted too. many nicknames: burr balls, England the monkey-puzzle J gum balls, space bugs, monkey tree from Chile and the massive S By August 1841 Nathan had built a wooden store on the balls, bommyknockers, sticker out sequoia from North America. her corner of Shortland Crescent and High Street. Trade prospered, balls, or goblin bombs. n m Flowers are a mauve or purple M and by 1853 he had built a brick store and warehouse.

Load more