For the babies

 

Seen in a Tauranga cemetery about 10 years ago. It reads: For all our babies, briefly known, forever loved. 

Beautiful.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world, Wordless Wednesday.

Notown Cemetery

 

This photo from Find a grave.

About a year ago in late Autumn B and I visited an area about 15 minutes out of town. Notown Cemetery once was a part of Notown - a town that was once a flourishing gold mining place but literally turned into a ghost town. We drove about 15 minutes along a gravel road to get to it and as you can see it's surrounded by bush and mountains.

As you can see alot of the resting places are unmarked mounds of earth or covered by rocks.

There are alot of these places on the West Coast of New Zealand because many people came here in the Victorian area for gold mining which was popular back then. People still do gold mining here but not to the same extent.

Notown School surrounded by bush and gorse.

It was once a busy little town that included hotels, a church and houses but the cemetery is all that remains. Last 2 photos courtesy of West Coast Recollect.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world, Wordless Wednesday.

St Michael and All Angels Hakaru

This wee church is somewhere I've been meaning to visit for a while. St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church is in Hakaru, about 10 minutes out of Mangawhai.

Built in 1887 it replaced an earlier church that was there in 1861 but as the community grew the original one became too small and was moved to Hukatere later on. This one is made of Kauri, cut and milled locally with an iron roof.

Graves in the cemetery include those one person from the South African War and 2 from World War One. The front memorial gates commemorate a local man named Frank Wintle who was killed in the North African desert in World War 2.

There are quite a few local names I recognized such as Tantrums, Stewarts, Blackwells and Wintles - descendants of those names still live around the area today. Unfortunately the doors were padlocked and we couldn't get inside to take interior photos.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Oromahoe Historical Church

Along the way on my fascination for historical buildings and churches we found this one about 15 minutes out town recently. The Oromahoe Church is owned by a trust and is next door to a Marae. It's about 120 years old and situated on land in a very country-ish area. According to the Papers Past website the church was built around 1880 but there aren't any further details.

Now when we find a Maori church we never immediately enter the gates. We are not of that culture so a huge amount of respect and caution is necessary - it's like barging into someone's home, we would prefer to be welcomed or invited there, we were unable to enter and see the inside.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Saint Michael's Anglican Church, Ohaeawai

Last weekend B and I explored a bit more of the outer area of Kerikeri. This time we found an old church, one of the many that are dotted around New Zealand. This one is just before the tiny settlement of Ohaeawai - it's dated from 1871 and was built on the site of an old battle, the battle of Pene Taui's Pa in 1845.

The church was built by local Ngapuhi people and at the opening in 1872 the remains of soldiers killed in the early battle were moved there. Inside the church is an account of the fight and and a plaque listing all the names.

Kaikohe Aperahama Church

Kaikohe Aperahama Church and Cemetery - Autumn 2018

This historic church was built by Neilsen brothers and opened in 1885 but is now owned by the Ngati Tautahi hapu. Kaikohe is in the surrounding areas near Kerikeri and I can't wait to explore the far north of NZ. Last week my daughter and I collected empty boxes from our workplaces. I've started filling them up, so far I've packed my collection of favourite books, towels/sheets etc from the linen cupboard, my vintage glassware that belonged to my nana and 3/4 of the drinking glasses.  The rest of this week outside of work I'll be starting on plates, the bathroom and the bedroom - think that'll keep me going for a while.

Colour within the concrete

Recently we visited Waikumete Cemetery in West Auckland. This is somewhere I've been meaning to visit for a number of years simply because it's where some of my ancestors are buried and because I needed to connect something with all the research I've been doing over the years on my family tree (which is extremely extensive so far).

On my dad's side, the Austens we searched for in the Anglican section and couldn't find then later found out the original markers which were very modest wooden crosses had disappeared over the years but I had been very near the spot while walking around.

On my mum's side the de Silva's and Andersons are on the opposite area from here in the Non Comformist section - I did end up finding them as one of my uncles had organized a nice large slate marker with names and dates etc on top which was nice to see. It was a fairly emotional morning really...as it would be but it was lovely to see some pink Valerian flowers creating some colour in amongst the concrete.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday.

Maketu has gone to the dogs...

Like I've mentioned before, Cemeteries interest me...this one we visited in Maketu also has historical part graves to it - these ones are in the newer part. This one caught my eye....judging by the headstone on the grave I'd say this one is affiliated with a local gang, looks like the Mongrel Mob and the dogs on top show that the person must've loved bulldogs.

According to local history many Maori pa were situated in various parts of the area around the early part of European occupation. The history lies in it's numerous burial grounds especially in Wharekaru are graves of some Pakeha and Maori leaders including Philip Tapsell and Anne Chapman who established the first local school in Maketu. The open fields of the Peninsula are considered sacred ground (Tapu).

Linking up with Our World Tuesday :-)

Wiremu Neera Te Awaitaia

I'm one of those people who have a fascination with old things, houses....cemeteries. I don't see them as morbid or useless...I see them as places full of history and memories.  On our recent trip through Raglan it was a blustery freezing cold Spring day, New Zealand had seen alot of rain that almost seem to keep going and going so this area was flooded in places. This small cemetery and monuments are in honour of Wiremu Neera Te Awataia, who was a Maori chief when the first ever contact was being made with European settlers.

He was born in 1796 into the Waikato Tribe of Ngati Mahanga and was known as a friend of the Pakeha (white people) and a person of great influence in Raglan. His name in the English language means "William Naylor".

Sooo do you ever visit historical areas and what are your favourite places?

btw I'm home from work for the rest of the week, seems the flu has developed into a chest infection leading to Laryngitis. Anti-biotics are now being taken and boredom has set in. Can't wait to get back to real life.

Angel of the morning...

It's been almost constant Spring time rain here and I've been down with the flu, seems to happen in those change of seasons. Today I can see blue skies out the window so here's hoping it lasts for a few days.

Photo: Angel on an old grave at Te Puke Cemetery.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday :-)

Fraser Road Presbyterian Church - Pokeno

Sometimes on our travels we try to stop at any old historical churches we see. On our road trip to Auckland last week we drove past this one on Fraser Road in Pokeno called the Presbyterian Church. Apparently it first opened in 1883 but is now someone's private residence - lucky them!

\And with the cemetery next door looking out onto the rolling countryside I bet they have the quietest neighbours.

Linking up with Our World Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday :-)

Tauranga Mission Cemetery - Otamataha Pa

After nearly 3 days of rain we decided to venture out into the drizzle, cabin fever was starting to creep in. This morning we had read about a local historical place not far from home, the Tauranga Mission Cemetery. Located in Marsh Street it's apparently the oldest European burial ground in the Bay of Plenty area, and has approximately 100 troops and 14 Maori warriors who perished in while on active duty during the NZ wars.

This place has a lovely outlook through the surrounding trees of Tauranga harbour and is near The Strand. The site was once used by the Ngai Te Rangi Pa of Otamataha.

In the 1820s the Church Missionary Society missionaries visited from the Bay of Islands searching for supplies but left after most of them were killed in 1828 by Ngati Maru raiders from the nearby Coromandel Thames area. 

In 1838/1839 Reverand Afred Brown bought the land and started up the Te Papa Mission Station and the pa site (above) became a cemetery.



In 1908 after the cemetery fell into disrepair, with land erosion playing a major part a trustee contacted the Under Secretary for lands. They decided a type of retaining wall needed to be built, concrete slabs were made to replace the wooden headboards on most of the graves which were then in time replaced by memorial plaques on the ground surface - some of which we saw today.

On 20th May 1884 a notice was issued in the Bay of Plenty Times that no more burials were to be allowed here.

37 men have been commemorated with name plaques but the names of 11 were not found on casualty lists. The cemetery also contains graves of 7 British soldiers who died between 1864 and 1870.

As you can see these are the fences and railings are still in fairly good condition, although moss has grown in places they are not falling apart.

Although Mission Cemetery was officially closed in 1881, some of the early settlers and their families were also buried here. In May 2014, one month after the 150th commemoration of the Battle of Gate Pa, the cemetery was part of a 7863 square metre site transferred from the New Zealand Mission Trust to the Otamataha Trust - the Hapu of Ngati Tapu and Ngaitamarawaho.

More information at Papers Past, Tauranga Memories, NZ History and this post at Timespanner is alot more well researched than what i have done :-)