When the Wakefield School Student Volunteer Army swept and cleaned graves beside the old St John’s Church last week, they didn’t expect to discover a long-lost grave underfoot.
Beneath the tree needles, ivy and years of organic matter they were clearing from the base of one of the huge sequoia trees, they revealed the broken grave of a young woman, Mary Phillips, who died in 1877 at the age of 22.
It was a history lesson as well as a good community project for the 35 students who joined the school’s student volunteer army for the morning.
Teacher, Kathy Jessop, instigated student volunteer army programme at the school four years ago following an initiative led by the student volunteer army involved in the Christchurch earthquake. She then approached a member of the church and retired teacher, Ewan Crouch, to tell some of the stories behind the graves in the cemetery.
Last year he talked to the students about the Baigent family history that dates back to the beginning of the village, with names and details recorded in the cemetery.
This year his story was about David Clark(e) - who was part of Wakefield’s early history and was killed by a tree, buried at the base of a now protected sequoia tree, only to have the body exhumed by the coroner and buried somewhere else in the cemetery.
But Ewan says no-one knows where David and his family are now buried.
It’s just one of the stories that connects names in the village with its past and gives the students an insight into its history.
“They suddenly see where some of the families come from,” Ewan remarks.
“They’re getting history as well as doing a community job.”
Ewan says the church, which was built in 1846 and is the oldest church in use in New Zealand, has been linked with the school from those early days and it continues today.
Students from Year four to seven volunteer for the job of cleaning graves in the cemetery each year and Kathy says they enjoy it.
“I just think it’s important for kids to do something that’s not about themselves. They enjoy it and it is local history.
“The cemetery is certainly a lot easier than the first time we did it. It’s not as overgrown and developing into a nice, tidy area. The kids find it really satisfying.”
