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Hamilton's Gothic
Among the Dead
By Daniel
Cumerlato
The Hamilton Cemetery was the first public cemetery in Hamilton, and claimed to be the first municipally owned cemetery in Canada. The land was originally purchased from Hamilton’s own Sir Allan MacNab in 1847 by Christ's Church and the gatehouse was later built in 1848.
Among the stones that
line the cemetery in rows are some of the most famous names in Hamilton
history. The Land family vault that is located
underground; the entrance through a small shack-like structure that is
not
much bigger than the typical size door leads to its stairs.
As for the rich and famous Hamiltonians, there are mausoleums belonging to George Tuckett (the tobacco king of Hamilton), W.E. Sanford, and the well hidden, but most gothic looking Stinson family vault. And of course, the monument dedicated to the Hamilton family after which the city took its name.
All of this is located in a cemetery that occupies much ground along the escarpment of Burlington Heights, and standing guard beside the stone that says, “777 York Street” is the very gothic Cemetery Gatehouse.
Erected on the scenic
land lining the west end of Burlington Heights, the
Gothic Revival style building was completed sometime between the years
of 1855 and 1862. The building started out as a public waiting room (or
a
mortuary chapel) and the caretaker’s home. It was transformed into
an
office and chapel in the early 1900s, and finally current day, as an
administrative headquarters for all Hamilton Cemeteries.
Designed by William
Hodgins, an architect and civil engineer who worked for the city when
he designed the gatehouse in 1854. It was a new idea,
becoming the first cemetery building in Canada to serve two purposes,
mortuary and the caretaker’s home, going against the usual sole purpose
that was standard among cemetery buildings.
In an attempt to improve the general look of the building, the wood spire, part of the dominant corner tower, was replaced with a carved open stone structure designed by architect Gordon Hutton in 1920.
The gatehouse is one of only two beautifully designed cemetery buildings located in the Hamilton area. The other is the Mortuary Chapel at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in current day Burlington (the supposed resting place of Sir Allan MacNab), built in 1889.
