VISIT TO CEMETERY

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31043, 26 April 1966, Page 16

VISIT TO CEMETERY

Preservation Urged After a visit to Barbadoes Street Cemetery on Saturday morning, five members of the Christchurch Civic Trust Board found themselves disagreeing with the Christchurch City Council's plan to move the tombstones to the perimeter and turn the cemetery into a “passive area.” “It is essential that the cemetery be kept as it is,” said Mr A. C. Brassington, a member of the board. “The board members agree that it should not be disturbed, apart from the planting of suitable shrubs and creepers, some tidying, and the introduction of some seats. We felt that the fence could be removed, too, along the Barbadoes street frontage.” Mr Brassington said the cemetery was of such historic value that the early economic and social development of the city could be traced among its tombstones. The northern part of the cemetery contained no stones at all, reflecting the poverty of the people at the time of the slump in the 1880 s. There was even a tomb commemorating the Countess de la Pasture. Mr Brassington said the trust board was opposed to anything being touched in the cemetery until the descendants of the pioneers—the citizens of Christchurch—had had time to think.