Beechworth Cemetery

Beechworth CemeteryThe current Beechworth Cemetery was opened in 1856 to replace the original cemetery which was located in Loch Street for the period 1853 to 1856 on the site of the old Congregational Church which still remains. Located on Balaclava Road the Beechworth Cemetery is divided in to the various religious denominational sections including the Beechworth Chinese Cemetery and the pioneer graves which were moved from the Loch Street cemetery in 1857.

The Beechworth Cemetery is the resting place for many noted citizens of Beechworth including :

Jacob Hoffman : A veteren of the American Civil War

John Drummond : Veteren of the Battle of Waterloo

James Riley : Veteren of the American Civil War

James M Storey : Veteren of the Mexican War

James Ingram : Beechworth Pioneer

Dame Jean McNamara : Noted Scientist

There are also the the graves of Henry Ah Yett, the last chinese person to be buried in the Beechworth Chinese Cemerery and the grave of the  seven Gammon children who died between 1862 and 1872 from various conditions that were untreated during the early days of Beechworth's settlement. There is an excellent self guided tour brochure of the Beechworth Cemetery available from inside the main gates which is well worth the gold coin donation.

 

Henry Ah Yett - The last chinese person to be buried at the Beechworth Chinese Cemetery

The Beechworth Chinese Cemetery is the resting place for aproximately 2000 Chinese

The Grave of John Watt at Beechworth Cemetery. Shot by bushrangers in 1872

The Grave of Isabella Brown in Beechworth. Life has grown from death

The Grave of Isabella Brown in Beechworth Cemetery

Grave of seven Gammon Children of Beechworth who died from 1862 - 1872

The grave of Dame Jean McNamara in Beechworth.

The rotunda at Beechworth Cemetery is centrally located

The Beechworth Cemetery encompasses a sloping site of approximately 20 acres (8.5 hectares) with the main entrance gates located at the intersection of Cemetery Road and Balaclava Road. It is bounded by the Beechworth-Wodonga Road to the north-west, English Lane to the north-east and Balaclava Road to the south-east, where a secondary entrance is located. The northern triangular tip of the site is currently unused. Beechworth Cemetery was surveyed in February 1854 by the Government Surveyor under the supervision of James Ingram, and divided into rectangular denominational compartments. In I856 a Cemetery Trust was formed and the cemetery was in operation in January the same year. The site was first gazetted as a public cemetery on 4 November 1861.

Beechworth Cemetery is of scientific (botanical) significance for its large collection of landscape plantings comprising hawthorn, photinia and rosemary hedges, conifers, palms, evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, bulbs and native grasses. Of outstanding value are the Blue Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica f. glauca), two Funeral Cypress (Chamaecyparis funebris), Giant Redwoods (Sequoiadendron giganteum), Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), an Italian Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens), a Hoop Pine (Araucaria cunninghamii)and a very rare Walter's Viburnum (Viburnum obovatum) one of only two examples in Victoria, the other a small shrub in the Royal Botanic Gardens.

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