Opened in 1948, Wharerangi Cemetery was Napier's first modern-style lawn cemetery. Its new-look features included plaques, low headstones and a memorial rose garden. In it was established Napier's first cemetery dedicated to Returned Services men and women. A Book of Remembrance is open to view daily in the open-sided shrine. In 1987, the striking group of niche walls was built to provide another option for the containment of ashes and memorialisation. Landscaping has always been an important feature of the cemetery. Originally bare and exposed, the hillside perimeter is now covered in trees. Specimen trees of many exotic varieties provide seasonal changes in flowers and foliage.