Cemetery gains the ‘wow factor’
Graveyards are usually associated with solemn, drab surroundings, but one Taranaki cemetery’s eclectic mix of plants and trees has made it so colourful and tranquil that it has become a hot spot for tourists.
New Plymouth’s 9.7-hectare Te Henui Cemetery has earned rave reviews from visitors and even a certificate of excellence on the TripAdvisor website.
‘‘It gets the wow factor every time,’’ says Chris Poletti, who runs sightseeing firm Tour For You.
On a clear day, depending on the time of year, tu¯ı¯, wood pigeons and blackbirds dart between the beautiful and special trees, which include po¯hutukawa, magnolias, cherries, crabapples and maples.
Poletti discovered its appeal through her love of photography, but now includes it in her itinerary.
‘‘I couldn’t get over just how so different it was to any other cemetery we had been to. I just thought, ‘What a neat place to show other people.’
‘‘Now it’s my one place that I absolutely go to.’’
The cemetery, which has a walkway running along its riverside boundary and New Plymouth Boys’ High on one side and Girls’ High on the other, is never short of visitors – whether it’s dog walkers, sightseers, or people paying their respects.
But Te Henui wasn’t always like this. The first graves were dug in 1861, but by the 1950s many original plots were full and empty ones had been pre-sold to relatives of those interred.
New burials were rare and the cemetery was on the verge of becoming derelict, with little attention paid to it other than mowing the lawns.
That was until the New Plymouth District Council began a major restoration project in 1984.
The work involved conserving monuments to highlight the artistry, architecture and historical values of the cemetery. Broken concrete was removed from the grave surrounds, which were then decorated with ornamental plants.
The transformation won a conservation award from the New Zealand Institute of Park and Recreation Administration in 1992. In more recent years the work has been continued by a team of dedicated volunteer gardeners assisting council staff.
The cemetery, the final resting place of surveyor and draughtsman Frederic Carrington – also known as the ‘‘father of New Plymouth’’ – and women’s rights advocate and art gallery founder Monica Brewster, made its debut in the Powerco Taranaki Garden Festival in 2018, thanks to the work of its seven regular volunteers.
They include Susan, an avid gardener who described the setting as her ‘‘happy place’’. ‘‘We are here because we love gardening, and we are lucky because the council allows us to.’’
Susan, who only wanted to be known by her first name, credited the cemetery’s popularity to the council’s insight to turn into a park.
‘‘All of these magic trees – this is what makes this place unique.’’
District council infrastructure manager David Langford said the cemetery was now regarded as one of the district’s hidden gems, and he praised the staff and volunteers for their work.
Visitor feedback is overwhelmingly positive – as Poletti can confirm.
‘‘Even in the dead of winter there still seems to be beauty there. I have had people . . . say, ‘Wow. Well, that was the highlight of my visit.’’’
‘‘I just thought, ‘What a neat place to show other people.’ ’’ Chris Poletti Tour operator