Our Cemeteries

Archer Street

The Archer Street Cemetery was the first large cemetery in Masterton. It was established in 1878 along with Queen Elizabeth Park. The story of the first grave here is an interesting one. A pair of boots were found by the river and it was assumed that a person had drowned. Richard Iorns was tasked with digging a grave for the victim. A body was never found but Richard caught a chill while digging and succumbed to his illness. He was buried in the grave he dug. There are still some interments made at this cemetery in family plots. There are many well-known local names amongst the 11,000 burials in this cemetery including the likes of Joseph Masters and Alfred Renall.

Soil conditions: Sandy rock, silty loam.

Address: Corner of Park Ave and Archer Street, Masterton.

The cemetery is open from 7am-7pm during daylight saving, and 8am – 5pm during winter.

Riverside Cemetery

Riverside Cemetery was set up in the early 1980s as Archer Street was projected to be full by 1985. It was designed by Colin Pugh and featured stone walls, native trees, a cremation wall and was laid out in a less conventional manner. The papers at the time described it as having “its own distinctive air about the place, not the stereotyped morbid feeling often found in cemeteries but a peaceful and passive atmosphere”. There are several lawn sections, a children’s section and an area for servicemen. This is Masterton’s active cemetery with many plots still available.

Soil conditions: Rocky, sand.

Address: Church Street, Homebush, Masterton

St Francis Lutheran Churchyard, Mauriceville West

The first church was dedicated here on 24 August 1884. This was replaced by a second church which was dedicated on 22 December 1957. The cemetery in the grounds contains many Scandinavian names of the settlers that used to live in the area. There are 11 rows of headstones, one of which is for “The Mauriceville Poet” Lars Anderson Schow, whose headstone is inscribed on both sides in Danish. The story goes that he purchased his plot near the road many years before he died so he could continue to keep an eye on who was coming to the town long after he died.

Soil Conditions: Clay Loam.

Address: 280 South Road, Mauriceville, 5882

Tīnui

This cemetery is located on a hill on the left-hand side after leaving Tīnui. The oldest inscription is for Ann Groves who died 3 March 1861 at the age of 63. At a meeting of the Tīnui Cemetery trustees on 1 October 1881, the rules around the cemetery were established including the proposal for designations of certain areas for different denominations. Wesleyans, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, and Presbyterians made up the main denominations, while section five was for “stranger and other denominations”. It was also proposed that an extra fee be charged per extra foot of depth of a grave at two shillings per foot.

Soil Conditions: Clay.

Address: 194 Masterton-Castlepoint Road, Tīnui 5889

Hastwell

This small cemetery is located eight kilometres north of Mauriceville. The first burial was for Ida Olive Mary Voss who was buried here on 7 November 1902 aged just 14 years. The cemetery is divided into two areas, Area one with nine rows and area two with ten, 50 plots in all. In October 1905, ten acres of the cemetery land was leased for a five-year period, this lease was offered again for another five-year period starting in 1920.

Soil Conditions: Clay

Address: Opaki-Kaiparoro Road, Eketāhuna, 4994