Previous major restoration projects within the Anglican and General Cemeteries have included the Serpentine Canal and the Quong Sin Tong monument. New projects are currently being considered, further information will be available soon.
- Quong Sin Tong Monument
In 2008 the Quong Sin Tong Monument was restored as close as possible to its original condition of 1877. The works aimed to retain the monument’s significance and to secure its long term survival so that it can once again be used by the community as a shrine for funeral ceremonial purposes. The restoration of the monument has assisted in the broader heritage conservation objective of the entire Rookwood Cemetery.
- Removal of four sandstone steps to cemetery workshop for storage whilst foundations are excavated.
- Excavations dug in preparation for sandstone step foundations.
- Moat cleaned of refuse (soil and vegetation).
- Inner moat brick wall dismantled and reconstructed (partially completed).
- In negotiation with the Department of Commerce for supply of sandstone.
- Construction of the four Sandstone step foundations adjacent to the monument.
- Reconstruction of the inner moat wall.
- Repair of the outer moat wall.
- Reconstruction of four brick arch bridges across the moat.
- Carving of sandstone blocks supplied by the Department of Commerce, into the main feature urn and pedestal base.
- Render of brick walls and brick bridges.
- Re-attachment of sculptural urn to top of the dome.
- Reconstruction and placement of feature urn & pedestal.
- Resetting of original and reconstructed of iron work.
- Reconstruction and placement of capping.
- Re-establish landscape around the structure.
- Serpentine Canal
The canal restoration work was initiated with a $90,000 grant by the Anglican Trust toward the Federation Cultural Heritage Project, undertaken by the Joint Committee of Necropolis Trustees.
The grant was to cover the cost of landscaping the area adjacent to the Serpentine Canal to a limit of $90,000. We originally intended using an earlier commissioned landscape master plan for the cemetery but our accumulated knowledge of the site suggested it was not accurate enough; so we found ourselves examining tree stumps, roots and suckering remnants to determine what the original tree plantings were and where they were.
Slowly we were able to piece together the original landscape planting patterns of the turn of the century. The results of months of research produced a working plan for restoration of the site.
Savings of over $230,000 for landscaping and $600,000 for road restoration were achieved. These opportunities included securing 8,000 cubic meters of road profiling from the R.T.A. at no cost; 5,000 Agapanthus donated by the public; additional labour from Work for the Dole, Friends of Rookwood – Helping Hands, and casuals from the Silverwater Correctional Centre;and propagation of additional plant material by Mr. Glen Piggott, of the Joint Committee of Necropolis Trustees. These savings, together with the strong community support from the Friends of Rookwood, both physically with planting assistance and financially, with $42,500 for the restoration of the No. 1 Fountain, allowed us to complete additional works not originally planned.
The project for restoration of the ornamentation turned out to be a jigsaw puzzle with most of the pieces missing. The replacement urns for example, were reconstructed from the designs on fragments found of the old urns that lay in the mud of the ponds for decades. These fragments, pieced together with the aid of a few old photos of the period helped the sculpters to recreate the urns - 54 in total comprising many different designs.
As the work progressed the Trustees decided to allocate additional funding to complete the restoration of all 31 hectares (70 acres) of neglected landscape of the P.C.A. (Permanent Conservation Area). This included:
- 100’s of metres of avenue plantings
- The embellishment of the canal, one fountain and four ponds with the 54 ornate urns and pedestals of numerous styles and sizes
- Restoration of hundreds of meters of garden plantings that surrounded the Serpentine walls and ponds
This work has become the catalyst for the Anglican Trust’s commitment to an expansive restoration of many more roads and landscaping of an historic cemetery renowned by generations of visitors for its derelict appearance.
