Council is proposing the demolition of Barbadoes Street Cemetery Sexton's House at 357 Cambridge Terrace.
The house is within the Barbadoes Street Cemetery and Setting which is scheduled as a Highly Significant Heritage Item #603 in the Christchurch District Plan.
The house is one of the last remaining Sexton’s houses associated with Council-owned cemeteries. The building was built in the 1920s in a Californian bungalow style, replacing an earlier 1860s cottage on the same site.
The house has been unused since 2013 and is boarded up and fenced. In 2019, it was assessed to be in good condition, with no immediate concerns for its structural integrity. It has sustained vandalism and is frequented by squatters. Council has received 17 complaints since 2019 about the property, about dumped rubbish/flytipping, property damage, squatters and graffiti. Neighbours have raised concerns about the behaviour the house is attracting.
The Sexton's House will require extensive works to restore, with costs estimated between $650,000 to $860,000 and demolition $36,800. There is currently no budget allocated to a restoration.
If the house was removed the site would be opened to the cemetery by removing the perimeter wooden fence with landscaping and interpretation developed.
After being first proposed in 1861, the Sexton's cottage was built in 1871 on the eastern boundary of the Church of England cemetery. Sextons were employed by the cemetery boards to maintain the cemeteries, but only the sexton employed to look after the Church of England cemetery lived 'on-site'. Robert Laycock was the first Sexton to occupy the house.
The first cottage was demolished and present house is built.
Christchurch City Council takes control of the Church of England cemetery.
The last Sexton occupied the house in approximately the 1950s. After that, the house was used for residential tenancy, with the most recent tenancy starting in 2008 and ending in September 2013.
The house sustained minimal damage from the Canterbury earthquakes with cracking to plasterboard and perimeter strip foundations.
Residential tenant moves out. House has been vacant since.
For a more in-depth history, view the heritage assessment here.
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