Ellesmere Public Cemetery in Leeston, Canterbury

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Get directions Feredays Road
Leeston, Selwyn District, Canterbury 7683 New Zealand

Coordinates: -43.77757, 172.25992
www.selwyn.govt.nz/facilities-and-parks/cemeteries
Cemetery ID:

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About these numbers These percentages indicate the number of Find a Grave memorials that have a grave photo or GPS coordinates. We don't know the total number of burials in a cemetery, so we cannot calculate a percentage of those with memorials, photos or GPS coordinates.

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When the cemetery was developed around 1874, it was used by Presbyterians - the area reserved being at the back of the cemetery. Other denominations were catered for by Church of England (Anglican), Wesleyan (Methodist) and Catholic cemeteries which existed locally (the first two being in churchyards). The first plots in the cemetery were sold for five shillings each. In 1878, the Ellesmere Cemetery Trust was established, with 2 areas (24 acres and 43 acres) comprised in the Trust. The Anglican portion was laid out in 1886 and the Methodist portion in the late 1880's, however, the Catholic area was never taken up. In 1897, a cottage was built in the cemetery and a caretaker subsequently appointed. In August 1950, the Ellesmere Cemetery Board decided to ask the Ellesmere County Council to take over the administration and upkeep of the cemetery. It is now managed by Selwyn District Council.

The cemetery sustained damage during the 2011 Christchurch earthquake with several of the older headstones having broken or toppled. The District Council has been working through a staged programme of cemetery repairs to fix damaged headstones.