Mortuary Station was a once-used train station, part of a line located in Sydney's CBD, used to transport the dead to their resting place at Rookwood Cemetery.
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Host/Producer/Writer/Editor: Harry Hughes
Associate Producer: Adam Hughes
Special Thanks to Lisa Murray from The City of Sydney
Every city has its secrets, and Sydney is no exception.
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Welcome to Sydney Untold, a podcast about uncovering Sydney's hidden locations and history.
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From abandoned tunnels to see secret gardens to even the most haunted road in the world.
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Let's step back in time as we uncover some Sydney's secret pass.
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Tell me, what's the first thing you think of when I say Chippendale? Go on.
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I'll wait.
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I know for me, when I think of Chippendale, I think of Sydney's art scene.
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A place to see a show, get a bite to eat or sip on a cocktail.
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It's also the home of Australian poet and author David Malouf.
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It might seem strange that you'd catch a train to a cemetery, but it was all part of the state government's plan to make the shiny new cemetery out at Rookwood more accessible to the public.
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Region street Train Station, or Mortuary Station as it's more commonly known, was the first station on what was called the Rookwood Cemetery Line, which ran directly to the cemetery, making four stops starting at number one, mortuary Receiving Station in the Necropolis and going until number four near the Anglican area of the cemetery.
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Mortuary Station opened on June 29, 1869, with construction finished on March 22, 1869.
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However, it had been in use since January of that year.
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It was one end of the service that ran to Juaniaro General Cemetery in Sutherland and trains heading towards San Gate Cemetery in Newcastle.
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Maltree Station is a really interesting development in our way system.
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That's the voice of Dr.
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Lisa Murray, the Sea of Sydney's.
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Historian It was deliberately done to separate out mourners and funeral operations from the ordinary railway platforms.
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The station was designed by the government architect of the day, James Barnett.
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He was extremely proud of the designs that he produced for the station in the city and also for its, I guess, sister station out at Ricardnacopolis itself.
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Barnett had been a government's architect since 1865 and had held the position until his retirement in 1890.
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You'd probably recognize some of his other notable buildings around Sydney, which include Customs House, the General post Office, the Darlinghurst courthouse and, of course, Mortuary Station.
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He died and was laid dress in Rookwood Cemetery.
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He designed these two stations to be Gothic in character, complementing religious design ideas around Gothic church architecture.
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They were built as sandstone, which is the beautiful material of choice in Sydney in the 19th century.
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And it was carved with lots of ornamentation and religious symbolism.
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Access to the station was via Regent Street.
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It was here the coffin and the mourners, which at the time were drawn by horses, started their journey towards Rookwood Cemetery.
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They were brought up the stone steps and onto the platform and would wait for the train.
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The mortres station was the hub for funerals.
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In the 19th century.
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The trains left twice a day and they were return trips.
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So there was a train in the morning and a train in the afternoon, one at 930 and one at 230.
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The trains were a return trip for the mourners, but obviously not for the corpses.
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The corpses got to travel free, which is very generous for a mourner.
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A return ticket was one shilling, which by today's money is about $8, so a lot more than a standard opal fare.
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And there was a special Hearst cart at the back of the train.
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Depending on how many funerals they'd have a day, they would have either a small hearse, which would take about four coffins, up to a larger one that might take eight or ten coffins.
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That wasn't cheap either.
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The minimum rate was £4.02 shillings in six months to organize a special train, which is about $670 in today's money.
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On top of that, the court didn't travel for free.
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It was charged ten shillings, which the nexus of kin would pay, and each mourner had to buy a ticket for the return trip.
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For much of the 19th century, it wasn't an electric train, it was a steam train, so it was quite a slow journey, but it was still a very important one for many people, as it was the only way to get out to Richard Necropolis.
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I've not been on a funeral train, so I just can't tell you exactly how long it went for.
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But it would be safe to say that the journey could take anywhere between three quarters of an hour to an hour and a half or more.
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As the funeral train and its passengers pulled into the first stop at Number One Mortuary Receiving Station, the first thing you would have noticed was the tall ceilings and sandstone bricks.
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Looking at photos, it was quite a beautiful building.
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The station was approximately 30 34 meters long by 14 8 meters wide, or 21 45 meters at its widest point.
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Walking outside, there were sandstone angels and a bell that would signal when the train was meant to depart.
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Just like the mortuary station, james Barnett adopted elements of 13th century Gothic styles when designing the station.
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It included two wide platforms, a ticket office, two vestibules, a waiting room and a carriage port.
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However, in 1948, with the rise of road carriages and motorhorses, the line was closed.
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The Rookwood Cemetery's Trusts were offered to purchase the station for £1, provided they maintained it.
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However, they refused to.
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Additionally, the bell in its spire also went missing.
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Until this day, the location is still unknown.
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However, this was not the death knell for Number one.
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Mortuary receiving station.
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Following the closure of the line, the station was used as a church until 1958, when a fire broke out inside the building, destroying the interior.
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After that, it fell into disrepair and became a home to vandals until it was purchased by the Australian Anglican Church in 1958 for the price of £100.
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It was deconstructed, transported and finally reconstructed in Canberra, where it still stands today as the All Saints Church.
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It doesn't feel forced at all.
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I think James Barnett's Gothic design was very much in keeping with the feel of church architecture and so it was a natural progression in a way, for the Mortuary Station out at Ricardnacopolis to be reused as a church.
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The beautiful sandstone angels, which used to be on the outside of the archways, now inside the building looking down on the congregation and there really is a very happy reuse of the building.
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The Motti station that is at Regent Street is still standing and is a site of marvel and wonder and curiosity.
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I think it was rather fitting that two historic buildings that were once morbid symbols of death and sadness have found a new lease on life, now being seen as locations of happiness and intrigue.
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I encourage you, if you haven't, to visit the site of Mortuary Station, the once station of the dead, and bask in some of its hidden mysteries.
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Thank you for listening to this episode of Sydney Untold.
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I hope you've enjoyed learning about the Moratori Station and the forgotten story of the Rookwood Cemetery railway line.
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I'd like to thank Dr.
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Lisa Murray, the historian from the city of Sydney, for appearing on the episode and for agreeing to talk about the station.
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This episode of Sydney Untold was hosted, written, produced and edited by Harry Hughes.
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And thank you to our associate producer Adam Hughes.
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Hobohp Media Group would like to recognize all Aboriginal people, particularly the Gatical people, past and present, the location of which this episode was located.
