Sinclair Cemetery serves as the final resting place for one of Wainuiomata’s pioneer families
Sinclair Cemetery was rediscovered as far back as 1981 and later commemorated in 1984 with a memorial plaque. Today, the main entrance to Sinclair Cemetery is close to the beginning of the Hine Road Recreational Reserve. From the car park, head right and up the hill behind Wainuiomata Memorial Garden.
The cemetery holds the graves of the Sinclair family and two other children. They are: Hugh Sinclair, Agnes Sinclair, Isabel Sinclair, John Hugh Sinclair, Isabella Sinclair, Richard Prouse’s child, and McIlvride child. The Sinclair’s homestead was close to the grave site.
The first grave in this cemetery is dated as far back as 1871, marking the resting place for the Sinclair family, early settlers of Wainuiomata. They played a huge role in logging the encompassing area where they lived. They notably deforested what was initially referred to as Sinclair Valley, later renamed Waterworks Valley then Reservoir Valley. Their efforts extended up to the future water catchment area, where the Water Board intervened to prevent further progression. With the removal of trees in the valley by the Sinclair family, the gravesite stood out, as it was bordered by a fence and tall holly trees around its perimeter. But it eventually became hidden over time.
Housing along Hine Road and Sunny Grove in the 1950s – 60s, along with the bush regenerating for many decades at the site, the cemetery was forgotten. The discovery took place after an investigation which was aided by an ex-resident who pointed out the site’s location. This was later confirmed by two descendents of the Sinclair family.
In fact, I myself (David Johnson) lived in the property directly behind the grave site and as a child I would play with other kids here during the late 1960s to early 1970s without knowing it was a cemetery. One day when playing and hiding in the bush, I noticed that the trees near me formed a straight line, then turned 90 degrees to another straight line. It was hard to notice otherwise, because the site was covered in bush. Further, myself and childhood friends played in the macrocarpa trees on the site and built forts in the branches. These trees formed a rough square shape and it was obvious that these trees had been planted by someone. Learn more →
Further, the 1880 photo above seems to show an entrance to the grave site, located behind 5 Sunny Grove. There was a steep track located there till the late 1970s that took you up to the site near the border of today’s 5 & 7 Sunny Grove properties. In this 1941 aerial photograph, you can actually see a track across Sunny Grove arriving at what is now no 5, where this entrance may have been located. The fenced Sinclair Cemetery is distinguished by its tree-lined perimeter. The bank below this entrance is quite steep today, but was less so in the 1970s. At 7 Sunny Grove, the bank has a cut that could be man-made. Perhaps it accommodated a stairway leading up to a platform entrance? Above the cut is a small trench like track and below the cut on the forest floor where Skerretts Creek cuts a path is a concrete platform with corners shaped to accommodate a frame. Long-term residents in this part of Sunny Grove do not appear to know of any structure in this location. This leads to the possibility that this structure predates housing and could have existed when the Sinclair family lived in the area. It could also have been linked to the cemetery somehow.
