Cemetery Station No. 1 was a railway station

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

 on Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

's Rookwood Cemetery railway line. It served the Rookwood Cemetery

Rookwood Cemetery

Rookwood Cemetery is the largest multicultural necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

.

History

The Cemetery No.1 Train station (also known as No.1 Mortuary Receiving Railway Station) was on the Rookwood Cemetery railway line. It was decided that funeral processions could be more dignified (and easier) if more official stations were created to replace the ones with original corrugated iron and timber structures. A scheme set up to separate funeral operations from the ordinary railway by the establishment of new platforms began in 1868 with the building of the Cemetery station inside the Necropolis.

The station opened as Haslem's Creek Cemetery Station on 1 April 1867. Some time before 1872, the station name was changed to Necropolis. The station was called Mortuary Terminus before having its name changed to Mortuary General Cemetery on 26 July 1897, when its name was transferred to the new terminus (later Cemetery Station No. 3 railway station). Finally the name was changed to Cemetery Station No. 1 on 15 June 1908, and it closed on 29 December 1948.

The sandstone station included wide platforms, a ticket office, two vestibules, retiring rooms and a carriage port. This building was elaborately decorated in a similar style to Regent Street railway station in Redfern

Redfern

Redfern may refer to:* Redfern, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney* Redfern , people with the surname Redfern* Redfern Froggatt, British footballer* Redfern , a Parisian couture house-See also:...

. The work of sculptors Thomas Ducket and Henry Apperly included angels, cherubs, gargoyles and various foliage carvings featuring flowers, pears, sycamores, apples and pomegranates. Black and white floor tiles created by Cumberland pottery were laid in a tessellated pattern on the floors.

The building spanned the terminus of the railway line into the cemetery so it created a tunnel effect. It covered an area of 35 x 13 metres and was approximately 6 metres high, being carried on 12 columns. An arch at each end of the building was approximately 12 metres high and 13 metres wide at the base. The Northern Arch was decorated with two angels opposite each other on the inner side of the arches. One angel appeared to be holding a scroll (which may have been the Judgement book) and its eyes were closed. The other angel was set to look down the railway line and held a trumpet in its hands, which probably symbolized the Resurrection. The building had a bell-cote for housing a bell that was used during the funeral services. The bell was tolled to warn passengers of the impending departure time. It is said (but not verified) that the bell would ring as each train arrived, and between 1910 and 1920 the bell was rung 30 minutes before the train was to depart to warn the passengers. It rang again when there was 5 minutes left to departure.

The station was an ornate stone building. After closure the station building was dismantled and moved to Canberra

Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

 in 1958, where it is now All Saints Church

All Saints Church, Canberra

All Saints Church is an Australian Anglican church located in the suburb of Ainslie, Canberra. It is part of the diocese of Canberra and Goulburn in the Anglican Church of Australia....

. The rebuilt church contains some modifications, the most obvious of which is the change in position of the bell tower to the opposite side.

In the middle of 2000, work began to improve the station site (at Rookwood Cemetery

Rookwood Cemetery

Rookwood Cemetery is the largest multicultural necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

) and to restore the original pathways. The restoration

Building restoration

Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...

work included exposing the gutters, uncovering the foundations of the platform ( 33°52'10.86"S 151° 3'4.48"E ), indicating the former locations of the structural columns and re-gravelling the pathways. A signpost at the site indicate the name for the station as being No 1 Mortuary Receiving Station and continues, commenced 14 April 1867, completed 10 August 1869.

Neighbouring stations