Iron Gate at Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Iron Gate at Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley

Primary tabs

Submitted by Marianne on Wed, 2017-05-03 11:01

Hello! Does anyone know what year the iron gate on Stubbs Road that leads into Hong Kong Cemetery was built? I'm sorry I don't have a picture yet, but I'll try to find the time to take one next week. I have enquired at the Hong Kong Cemetery and the HK Museum of History, but no one knows. There is no date marked on the gate either. I would be so grateful to find out! Thanks in advance!  

Forum: 
General
Tags: 
Hong Kong Cemetery
Happy Valley
  • Log in or register to post comments

Submitted by David on Thu, 2017-05-04 19:08.

Is it this one, just up from the junction with Shiu Fai Terrace?

Submitted by Marianne on Fri, 2017-05-05 07:03.

Yes, this is the entrance.

Submitted by C on Fri, 2017-05-05 20:24.
I don't seem to see an iron gate at the Google street view that David posted... Is it just me? :) The section of the Stubbs Road near Shiu Fai Terrace was widened in the 1990s (??), so the gate itself cannot be too old. There is another entrance with a metal gate on Stubbs Road closer to the AIA Building.

Submitted by Marianne on Sat, 2017-05-06 10:26.

Hi C, I always saw this gate as an iron gate ;) Sorry for any confusion. Yes, this gate from the picture is the smaller one, and once you walk inside, you can follow a path down through the cemetery. I took photos yesterday, and will see how I can upload them now (please bear with me, I haven't done this before). I am thinking that the gate must be older than the 1990's, because the pillars on either side of the gate look very colonial - but I am making this assumption through sight only. 

Submitted by Marianne on Sat, 2017-05-06 11:46.
IronGate_HKCemeteryHV_StubbsRdEntrance
IronGate_HKCemeteryHV_StubbsRdEntrance, by Marianne

Submitted by Marianne on Sat, 2017-05-06 11:47.
IronGate2_HKCemeteryHV_StubbsRdEntrance
IronGate2_HKCemeteryHV_StubbsRdEntrance, by Marianne

Submitted by Marianne on Sat, 2017-05-06 11:47.
IronGate3_HKCemeteryHV_StubbsRdEntrance
IronGate3_HKCemeteryHV_StubbsRdEntrance, by Marianne

Submitted by Marianne on Sat, 2017-05-06 11:48.
IronGate4_HKCemeteryHV_StubbsRdEntrance
IronGate4_HKCemeteryHV_StubbsRdEntrance, by Marianne

Submitted by Marianne on Sat, 2017-05-06 11:54.

Hi, C. I have managed to upload the photos of the iron gate. 

Submitted by C on Sat, 2017-05-06 22:01.

Hi Marianne,

Thank you for uploading the photographs!

Initially I thought you were talking about this gate which looks similar to the gate of interest. Both entrances existed in the early 1980s but I am not sure if the iron gates were the same -- I don't recall them as being painted green back then.  As I mentioned before, the gate of interest might have been moved due to the widening of the road.

Submitted by Barbara Anslow on Sun, 2017-05-07 10:41.

When my Dad died in HK in July 1940, there was a locked gate on Stubbs Rd to the cemetery.

When we intended visiting Dad's grave, we had beforehand to phone someone in charge of cemetery, to arrange for the Stubbs Rd gate to be unlocked.   The grave was in the uppermost row, to walk to it from the official entrance in Happy Valley opposite the Jockey Club involved a steep walk up terraces which my Mum with her weight could not manage.

Barbara

Submitted by Marianne on Sun, 2017-05-07 10:56.

Thank you, C.

Submitted by Marianne on Sun, 2017-05-07 11:05.

Good morning, Barbara. Thank you very much for sharing your personal memories and for taking the time to write this for us all to learn more. We are getting closer to finding out the gate's age. Do you recall if the gate was painted green or another colur back then? Or perhaps it was left bare. I'm going to ask a few elderly HK'ers I am friends with if they have any knowledge about the gate and its age.   

Marianne      

Submitted by moddsey on Sun, 2017-05-07 12:07.

Do not know if the fence referred to below is of the old gate, but anyway, this may be of interest.

1934 PWD Report Para. 127

Colonial Cemetery: - Laying out new areas. Additional burial areas were formed and an unclimbable fence was erected. An entrance off Stubbs Road was provided to give access to the upper levels of the Cemetery.

Submitted by Marianne on Sun, 2017-05-07 12:31.

Wow! Thank you, moddsey! 

Submitted by Marianne on Sun, 2017-05-07 18:44.

Hello again, moddsey. Seeing as what you posted is from the Public Works Department, do you think that makes it certain that the gate is definitely from 1934? Or just 50-50? I asked an elderly Hong Konger today, and this gentleman said he knew the gate was at least 100 years old, and insisted it was pre 1930's. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!    

Submitted by moddsey on Mon, 2017-05-08 11:51.

Can't say if the gate dates back to 1934 but it has certainly been there for a long time! 

Submitted by C on Mon, 2017-05-08 17:55.
We may want to look at historic maps to determine which parts of the cemetery were put in use when. There are two gates on Stubbs Road and the Public Works Department report could be referring to only one of them.

Submitted by moddsey on Mon, 2017-05-08 20:11.

For reference - 1921 PWD Annual Report Para 53

A new path 10 foot wide, leading from the Motor Road from Morrison Hill to Bowen Road to serve the upper terraces of the Cemetery was commenced but not completed by the end of the year. (The 1922 Report indicates the work had been completed.)

Note: The new Motor Road was at the time under construction in phases and only named as Stubbs Road in 1923. 

 

Submitted by Marianne on Thu, 2017-05-11 13:22.

Thank you for the responses! I'll try to do some more research, too, and let you know If I find out anything. Cheers!

Submitted by Marianne on Thu, 2017-05-18 13:34.

I have received extremely thorough evidence from Dr. Stephen Davies, University of Hong Kong, which confirms that the gate opposite Shiu Fai Terrace could only have been created in 1934, and is most probably made of steel, and not iron, as I previously thought. Thank you to everyone who commented on this post and helped, especially Dr. Stephen Davies!