CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND CEMETERY. AT CHRISTCHURCH.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XX, Issue 1110, 1 July 1863, Page 4

CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND CEMETERY. AT CHRISTCHURCH.

On Tuesday, the 23rd instant, the Lord Bishop of Christchurch performed the ceremony of consecrating the enclosed portion of the Church of England Cemetery, together with a small Chapel which has been recently erected on it. The day was gloomy and threatening, and this, along with the muddy state of the roads after the late heavy rains, probably prevented a large number of persons from attending. The enclosure comprises upwards of two acres of ground, and is well situated on a high ridge overlooking the Avon, just outside the eastern boulevard of Christchurch. One-half is empty of graves, having been quite recently laid out and sown with grass;

the other half is already thickly studded with tombstones, beside which droop tall willows, weeping over the mortal remains of the relatives and friends of some of our earliest settlers. Many of the graves are carefully kept and strewn with fresh-gathered flowers, the tribute of loving hearts to the memory of their dead.

At 12 o'clock, the Bishop, attended by the Archdeacon of Akaroa, the Rev. H. Jacobs, curate of Christchurch, and four other clergymen, met the parishioners of Christchurch at the entrance of the Chapel, where a petition was read in their name by

the curate, praying his Lordship to proceed to the consecration. A procession was then formed of the clergy and parishioners, two and two, headed by the Bishop, and in this order all walked round the Cemetery enclosure, repeating alternately witli the Bishop, the verses of the XVI., XC., and other appropriate Psalms. Returning to the Chapel, the whole party entered the building, and after the deed of consecration had been duly read and signed, the prayers of consecration were offered, and a suitable address made by the Bishop, in the course of which he referred to the sanctity which has ever attached

to burial places in all ages and countries, as far back as the times of the Patriarchs, and impressed in earnest language the solemn lesson conveyed by the surrounding tokens of mortality. After the Old Hundredth had been sung, more heartily and better than we have heard it for years, the Holy Communion was administered to about twenty-five persons, the Rev. H. Jacobs officiating on the south side of the altar. The collection at the offertory, to be applied to the lining of the building, was between six and seven pounds. The Chapel is a small but neat structure, capable of accommodating thirty or forty persons, and terminated at the east-end by an apsidal sanctuary, with three lancet windows running up into dormers in the roof. There are two similar windows in either side-wall of the Chapel, and at the west-end is an ample porch, communicating with the building by large folding doors. The entrance and apsis are paved with handsome encaustic tiles, brought out twelve years ago in one of the first ships from England. It is hoped, that before the end of the year, all the windows will be filled with painted glass, orders having, we understand, already been sent to England for execution by one of the best makers. The windows will all be memorials to departed friends, put up at the expense of the survivors. The Chapel has yet to be lined, and contributions for this purpose will no doubt be gladly received by the churchwardens.