Original Bunbury Public Cemetery - Site

Statement of Significance

DEMOLISHED The Original Bunbury Public Cemetery was an important place in the community from days of early settlement up until end WWII when families were given a final opportunity to remove graves and headstones to the new Cemetery.

Physical Description

Public Open Space

History

Bunbury Cemetery was gazetted on 27 August 1847. Although the lot had been set aside during Assistant Surveyor H M Ommaney’s 1841 survey, it was not allocated a dedicated lot number and was simply known as the ‘Burial Ground’. A later map, drawn by Mitchell and Taylor in 1863, referred to it as ‘the Old Burial Ground’. Located on the western side of what was named ‘The Russell Esplanade’, the site took up a large area between Simmons Street (as it was named in the first survey, now Symmons Street) and Wellington Street, and extended towards Rocky Point. The original Bunbury Cemetery was officially used between 1847 and 1925 as a Protestant Cemetery vested with the Church of England. Health concerns and impending overcrowding prompted the Church to transfer control of the cemetery to the Bunbury Council, who later voted to close the cemetery and open a larger one on the ‘outskirts’ of town (now part of suburbia) in 1914. Council campaigned for all graves and headstones to be relocated to the new cemetery (off Forrest Avenue) but all costs were to be borne by relatives. However the harsh economic times, followed by World War I, made it impossible for many to achieve this. The headstones remained at Prinsep Street throughout the 1940s, and Council made a concerted effort for all remains to be cleared from the old cemetery in the 1950s. The majority, but not all, were relocated at this time and in 1985, Council addressed the issue of the remaining graves. By this time, the remaining headstones had been vandalised and Council moved them to the new cemetery. The headstones from the Original Bunbury Cemetery are now located in rows of ‘pioneer headstones’, placed side by side on an elevated embankment, at the new Bunbury Cemetery. The old Bunbury Cemetery is now public open space named ‘Pioneer Park’ in recognition of its former use as a burial ground for many of Bunbury’s first settlers. A timber plaque near the Wellington Street entrance reminds visitors of the earlier use. There is now also a commemorative structure which includes a list of names of people believed to have been buried at the site

Integrity/Authenticity

A plaque marks the site.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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