In the 1880s there was concern that the domestic water supplies for the area were being contaminated by the adjacent Symonds Street Cemetery; The Newton gully was created by a stream which drains into the Western Springs area to the east. The possibility of Well water being contaminated by decomposing matter and embalming chemicals (arsenic in particular) was quite a worry, leading to the eventual closure of the cemetery and the opening of a new facility at Waikumete in West Auckland.