Ngapara Street, Alexandra
Ngapara Street, Alexandra
Alexandra Cemetery was established in 1865 at about the time of the founding of the township.
Located at the end of Ngapara Street, this cemetery is divided into two sections. As you enter the older part of the cemetery on your right, you'll notice a classic monumental style cemetery common for its era dominated by elaborate gravestones decorated with symbolic reminders of death such as angels of grief, crosses, urns, columns and books. Some original ironwork as well as wooden grave surrounds can still be found in this part of the cemetery. Further along is the lawn cemetery with its standardised layout of gravestones where all burials take place today including ashes and interment sites. Across from the lawn cemetery is a stillborn baby memorial wall for memorial plaques.
Central Otago’s only crematorium is a private facility based at the Alexandra Cemetery. This cemetery is administered and maintained by Council. The lawn cemetery section is irrigated and the older section is maintained as a dry land cemetery. Due to the high lime content in Alexandra's water supply, we find that headstones can get easily marked. We recommend that when you have a headstone made to get it sprayed with a special sealant to prevent lime marking. As is custom with most lawn cemeteries, no memorial gardens are to be planted on grave sites.
All records for this cemetery are held at the Council offices in Alexandra.