Sydney Mortuary Station, New South Wales, Australia 1870
By Remembering the Past Australia / April 7, 2022 / Australia / 0 Comments
Place:
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Date:
1870
Historical Information:
This image is part of the Colonial Office photographic collection held at The National Archives UK.
The Sydney Mortuary Station, now known as Regent Street Railway Station, opened as Mortuary on 29 June 1869. It has also been referred to by different names, including the Necropolis Receiving Station and the Mortuary Station. The station was built as part of the larger Rookwood Cemetery line. It was completed on 22 March 1869 but had been used since 1 January 1869. It was also one end of the service that ran to the Woronora General Cemetery in Sutherland, located south of Sydney, and for trains heading to Sandgate Cemetery in Newcastle.
Both the Sydney Mortuary Station and the Receiving House station at Rookwood Cemetery were designed by colonial architect James Barnet in the Victorian Free Gothic style, using elements from the Venetian 13th century Gothic style. Principal sculptors Thomas Ducket and Henry Apperly worked on the elaborate carvings that were a feature of the stations, including angels, cherubs, and gargoyles. Although both buildings were designed to look like churches, both in structure and in the symbolic elements that adorned them, they were never used as places of worship.
The station was used as the terminus for funeral trains until 1938. [Wiki]
Description:
Showing the Sydney Mortuary Station, New South Wales. Original photo published 1870.
From the collection of:
