Akaroa Historical Overview - Christchurch City Council

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The old French Burial Ground: “Ici repose le corps...” The old French cemetery was perhaps less highly regarded at this time. From as early as the 1870s the upkeep of the graves had been an issue and by 1906 the interior of the cemetery was described as being in a most disgraceful state of neglect. As part of the 50 th anniversary of the constitution of the Akaroa Borough, the cemetery was given a total face lift. Funded by the War Graves Commission, all existing plant fabric and remnant grave material was cleared from the grounds in favour of a new landscape of concrete and carpet bedding. Bodies were reburied in a central plot and two coffin inscription plates were salvaged and included as memorial fabric mounted on a central burial feature(refer figure 6.23). The grounds were laid out by the Council Gardener in 1925/26 and trees were provided by the Department of Internal Affairs. A central memorial block was erected and the site was renamed the Old French Burial Ground. Descriptions of this new landscape were not all favourable: “the dear old cemetery had been raked bare and clean and tidy” wrote one critic. Pines were said to have been planted with military precision and the surrounding fence was a 'severe' iron railing. 69 The unveiling of the memorial by the Hon. J. G. Anderson, Minister of Marine on 25 September 1926 was a grand occasion, with the dignitaries and populace walking in procession through the streets and sitting down to lunch at the Metropole Hotel. There were speeches at both the Borough Council chambers and at the cemetery, where the Little River band played the Marseillaise before afternoon tea at the Recreation Ground, an afternoon football match and an evening ball. 70 In 1939, a willow tree was sent from Jerusalem on the Wanganui River to the Borough Council for the grounds of the French Cemetery. Sent by a former resident of the town, Mr William Bruce, and planted by Mr E.X. Le Lievre, the occasion was felt to be symbolic on a number of levels. The willow was said to be descended from Mr Le Lievre's father's original St Helena plantings. Cuttings from these had been taken by Bishop Pompallier on one of his visits to Akaroa to plant in the North Island, including on the banks of the Wanganui River. Mr Bruce, having left Akaroa as a child to live in Wanganui, had encountered these and knowing of their association with Napoléon's grave at St Helena and then Akaroa, had propagated from them. Hearing that the Akaroa willow had died he had thought it important that the connection between the early French colonists and this plant line be continued. It was also felt fitting by the mayor, that the bond between the French and the English in the settlement was being recalled in the planting of the willow at this time as England and France were preparing to go to war together against an aggressor in Europe. 71 Two totara, an oak and a kauri in the wider cemetery area outside of the enclosure suggest that the cemetery has been used as a site for commemorative or memorial plantings. It is thought that the Oak may be one of two Coronation Oaks planted in 1911 (discussed later in this section). The provenance of one of the totara is likely to be the 1932 planting by the Akaroa Girl Guides who commemorated Girl Guide week in May that year. 72 At the same time the Brownies planted a Kahikatea in the cemetery grounds. 69 Letters to the Editor, Akaroa Mail various between 1926 and 1937 70 Ogilvie, Cradle, p. 46; The Press, 27 September 1926; The Press, 28 September 1926, Editorial 71 Akaroa Mail, 5 September 1939 72 Akaroa Mail, 7 May 1932 AKAROA HERITAGE OVERVIEW : SECTION 6 YEARS OF STABILITY 1900 TO 1950 PAGE 111
Figure 6.23 The central memorial feature lists the names of those who were buried on L'Aube Hill as far as it was possible to ascertain them. Ref: 2082-1 Figure 6.24. By the 1940s the cemetery had lost its central planted beds and roses were ready to claim the burial ground again. Ref: 8219 1/2 CM The War Memorial Gardens The War Memorial and its associated garden were constructed on the site originally occupied by the old Borough School, where many of those whose names appear on the memorial had been educated. The foundation stone for the imposing Gothic memorial, which was designed by a Christchurch architect, H. St.A. Murray, was laid in March 1922 and the completed structure unveiled on 12 March 1924. 73 Both the memorial and its surrounding wall were constructed from stone from Bob Bruce's farm at the top of Alymers Valley. The grounds for the memorial are likely to have been designed by the Council Gardener who generously gave 50 rose bushes for the garden. His design followed the conventions for public grounds in the 1920s with various geometric shapes cut into the turf, rose beds and bedding annuals which provided 73 Ogilvie, Cradle, pp. 45-46; Fearnley, Unpublished manuscript, ch. 5 AKAROA HERITAGE OVERVIEW : SECTION 6 YEARS OF STABILITY 1900 TO 1950 PAGE 112
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A REPORT PREPARED FOR: KERI DAVIS-M
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LIST OF FIGURES: Section 2: Introdu
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Figure 6.7. Akaroa beach before WW
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Figure 7.41. View of hillside veget
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SECTION ONE: OVERVIEW Report Contex
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It draws particular attention to wh
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AKAROA: AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Sect
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It had the appearance of remoteness
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SECTION THREE: LANDSCAPE & HUMAN HI
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Paka Ariki seems to have had a less
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They appear also on occasion to hav
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The settlers were given clear title
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Commercial Hotel. (Green sold this
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Figure 4.2. The cottage built in 18
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Charlotte Godley, however, observed
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THE NATURAL AND PLANTED LANDSCAPE P
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own property in Takamatua and the n
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By 1847 cropping and stock breeding
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Figure 4.10. Father Sione's plan sh
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Figure 4.12. Plan of the Akaroa sho
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EXTANT TOWN FABRIC & FEATURES DATIN
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SECTION FIVE: THE COLONIAL TOWN 185
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Akaroa’s transformation from vill
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Although the proportion of Akaroa
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The most important concentration of
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The largest private home built in 1
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He soon built his own store and coa
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time after 1884 (probably in 1888)
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Figure 5.17. In this view looking s
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Industry Industry had less of an im
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Public institutions As Akaroa grew
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One of the organisations which met
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The first Anglican church was built
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distinctively Akaroa style of archi
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The Akaroa Mail greeted the formati
Page 73 and 74: Figure 5.28. For a time in the late
Page 75 and 76: THE COLONIAL LANDSCAPE The disappea
Page 77 and 78: By 1900 the forest was virtually go
Page 79 and 80: Figure 5.32. Walnut Avenue was the
Page 81 and 82: Figure 5.34. Charles Haylock's prop
Page 83 and 84: The resort garden and the seaside h
Page 85 and 86: The re-invigoration of the town's e
Page 87 and 88: public gardens in the colony” 122
Page 89 and 90: Britomart or Green's Point Monument
Page 91 and 92: Names on the landscape in 1900 The
Page 93 and 94: c SNAPSHOT OF AKAROA IN 1900 The 19
Page 95 and 96: Public buildings and structures •
Page 97 and 98: AKAROA: AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Sect
Page 99 and 100: During and just after World War II,
Page 101 and 102: with the previous half century. Two
Page 103 and 104: The unveiling of the monument on Gr
Page 105 and 106: Figure 6.5. James Bruce established
Page 107 and 108: grounds, was dedicated to the wives
Page 109 and 110: Building a dairy factory in Akaroa
Page 111 and 112: Community Life Between 1900 and 195
Page 113 and 114: The building of the Post Office was
Page 115 and 116: through Little River and over Hillt
Page 117 and 118: Power from the Lake Coleridge power
Page 119 and 120: area without the fear of currents a
Page 121 and 122: Land reclaimed on the northern beac
Page 123: Akaroa cemetery: “the most inviti
Page 127 and 128: Centennial celebrations In preparat
Page 129 and 130: In addition to built landscape elem
Page 131 and 132: Coronation Oaks were planted on L'A
Page 133 and 134: Figure 6.34. Aylmers Valley Road in
Page 135 and 136: Figure 6.36. The Narbey family home
Page 137 and 138: c SNAPSHOT OF AKAROA IN 1950 Descri
Page 139 and 140: Public buildings and structures •
Page 141 and 142: SECTION SEVEN: CHANGE AND GROWTH 19
Page 143 and 144: When the Akaroa County first drew u
Page 145 and 146: The Metropole and Bruce fires left
Page 147 and 148: offered from the 1970s and more rec
Page 149 and 150: By the late 20 th century, a town w
Page 151 and 152: ensure as far as possible that the
Page 153 and 154: Figure 7.7. In this aerial view tak
Page 155 and 156: This expectation was fulfilled. In
Page 157 and 158: On Rue Balguerie, subdivision in 19
Page 159 and 160: But the spread of houses onto those
Page 161 and 162: Figure 7.16. Some architects who de
Page 163 and 164: Farrell stated her case against the
Page 165 and 166: Figure 7.19. Behind the recent and
Page 167 and 168: Figure 7.22. The Haylock House on A
Page 169 and 170: In 1970 a local complained to the w
Page 171 and 172: Figure 7.25. The new gymnasium on t
Page 173 and 174: Figure 7.26. General view of Akaroa
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palms, sumach, chestnuts and walnut
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Commemorative fabric and historic t
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The changing face of the Domain Dur
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Cemetery reserves: “nothing but c
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widened in part to better accommoda
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Figure 7.38. 1972 map of Akaroa . P
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c SNAPSHOT OF AKAROA TODAY The seco
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EXTANT TOWN FABRIC DATING FROM 1950
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Come to Akaroa Canterbury’s Premi
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Vangioni. L. J. (1967) Old Maori pl
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Akaroa Mail, 7 September 2001 Akaro
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Appendix 2. Although Akaroa's popul
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Appendix 4. Typically, subdivisions
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Appendix 6. In 1946, the block of l
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Appendix 8. In 1953, the extensive
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Appendix 10. In 1962, one of the fi
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Appendix 12. After the major subdiv
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Appendix 14. On the south side of A
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Appendix 16. The most recent large
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Appendix 18. Nearly 20 years passed
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Appendix 20. In 1971, the block of
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Appendix 22. A 1981 subdivision saw
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Appendix 24. The Settlers Hill subd
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Appendix 26. The houses on Percy St
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Appendix 28. As development extende
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Appendix 30. As development crept u
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Akaroa Historical Overview - Christchurch City Council

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