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Mount Cole Cemetery

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Mount Cole Road, Mount Cole VIC 3377

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Features

  • Historic cemetery
  • Beautiful views
  • Monument dedicated to unmarked pioneer burials
  • Gazebo
  • Information sign
  • Rubbish bins
Set on a grassy rise above Mount Cole Road, this gorgeous little cemetery is surrounded by scenic forest and mountain views. 

Featuring a gazebo, bench seating, information board, and several pioneer monuments, the Mount Cole Cemetery is a fascinating place to stop by while exploring the natural and historical attractions of Mount Cole. 


There is a section of unmarked graves reserved in memory of the early pioneers and their children resting in both marked and unmarked graves. 

A plaque set on a large stone sits before the unmarked graves and lists the names of those buried in unidentified graves.


A printout pinned to the information board at the front of the Cemetery displays an article which was published in the Ballarat Courier:

Driving along a back road, I came upon, quite by accident, a tiny cemetery in the Mt. Cole area. It could " Be " the Mt. Cole cemetery for all I know... it wasn't identified in any way. The gravel driveway in-clined up through the gateway, and some of the graves sat companionably close to the fence line.

The day was one of those perfect late Autumn days when it seems that Winter will never come. 

This little gem of a cemetery drowsed peacefully in the warmth, its noiseless tranquility only ruffled by the occasional passing over-head of raucous - voiced flock of white cockatoos.

It's obvious that the rabbits play here, and perhaps that's what helps keep under-growth to a reasonable level. It also seems to have a familial exclusiveness... the same names recur... the Padgetts, the Allenders, Howells, Kneebones, Ords, Shalders and McGuinesses to name some, indicating that generations of these families have lived and put their roots down in the surrounding district.

Most of them seemed to have achieved a reasonable fullness of years too.

There was only one epitah here that was significantly different. It was of Catherine, beloved wife of George Martin Thomas. She was buried with her little son Alfred who had died in 1873, aged 2 years and 9 months. Catherine was aged 36 at her death on 15th January 1887, and her epitah reads:

"She is gone like the flowers, cut down in full bloom
From the sunshine of life, to the shade of the tomb
But death cannot sever, the chain of our love
Or steal the fond hope, we shall met her above"

At the good old age of 85 years, George was laid to rest with his wife and child, and so they sleep together. 

If only one could choose one's final resting place quite regardless of costs, ties, etc, I couldn't think of a much nicer spot either!



The other side of the information board displays a dedication to the soldiers buried in the Mount Cole Cemetery.

Contacts: Mount Cole Cemetery Trust
President - Mark Pilgrim (5354 3206)
Secretary - John Warren (5354 3252)






DID YOU KNOW...

  • Many cemeteries in the goldfields were established in the early-mid 19th century. Walking through the historic cemeteries of the area is like taking a walk through time.
 

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