Waverley Cemetery’s monumental significance

Waverley Cemetery will celebrate its 136th year next month with an open day and history tours.

Founded in 1877, the iconic Waverley Cemetery is considered one of Australia’s oldest cemeteries and has provided for more than 80,000 funerals and ceremonies.

Waverley Cemetery Manager Martin Forrester-Reid said the site had undergone restoration work since 1997 and conservation projects as part of the Cemetery’s Plan of Management.

“It’s a unique, valuable place for remembrance and quiet contemplation. It’s also a showcase of artistic expression and the work of monumental stonemasons,” he said.

“All the staff get a great deal of work satisfaction knowing we have been able to help families in their time of greatest need.”

The cemetery undertook its first cremation 109 years ago in 1904 and began setting aside garden areas for ash and urn graves six years later.

In her poem, ‘The Waverley Cemetery’, Merlyn Swan acknowledged the historical significance of the site and its Victorian and Edwardian monuments.

Waverley is home to a variety of high quality Carrara marble statues and memorials. Exploring the carved symbolism on these memorials, the historical tours will look at the cemetery’s rich history and the forgotten meanings of many of the carved designs.

Waverley Mayor Sally Betts said the site was one of Australia’s most iconic and beautiful cemeteries.

“Waverley Cemetery is our most significant heritage asset in the LGA,” she said.

“It is time for critical work to be done to renew assets and stabilise the site for future generations. New boundary fencing will make one of the most important contributions to preservation of the site.”

The site is also home to a variety of distinguished Australians, with literary figures like Henry Kendall, Dorothea Mackellar, Henry Lawson, and sporting greats like test cricketer Victor Trumper and swimmer Fanny Durack all commemorated at the site.

Mr Forrester-Reid said the Cemetery’s Plan of Management outlines how the cemetery should control its heritage significance and protect its historical features to avoid any potential threat to the site.

“The early policy of encouraging white uplifting memorials and not depressing black headstones makes the cemetery particularly unique in Sydney, and is valued by the community,” Mr Forrester-Reid said.

“There are many moving tributes on so many of our memorials. It’s important to understand these inscriptions are public expressions of grief and loss that are just as important now as they were to the people of the 1870s.”

Waverley Council will celebrate the cemetery’s 136th birthday on August 4, giving residents an opportunity to consult Council staff and provide their feedback on new boundary fencing options for the site.

The open day will run from 10am-2pm and public consultation on fencing is available until August 16.