The Maldon Cemetery was reserved in 1861 and is a significant example of a substantially intact gold rush era cemetery which is still in use today. This cemetery lies in a scenic setting beneath the beautiful
Rock of Ages.
There are around eight thousand burials and several memorials in the Maldon Cemetery.
Significant features of the Maldon General Cemetery
This cemetery is unusual in its layout as it lacks the typical sections divided by religious denomination.
Significant features of the cemetery include: a brick Chinese funerary tower (built around 1865), 1866 sexton's lodge, rotunda (built around 1900), Chinese section, pioneer section, and war memorial.
Information signs and a cemetery map are displayed within the rotunda.
Establishment of the Maldon General Cemetery
Following the discovery gold in the area, the first burials in the town of Maldon were near the Methodist Chapel, but the remains were transferred to this new cemetery after its establishment.
Lone grave at the original cemetery site in Maldon
How to get to the Maldon Cemetery
The Maldon General Cemetery is located on the corner of Maldon-Shelbourne Road and Back Cemetery Road.
You can drive into the cemetery through the iron gates off Maldon-Shelbourne Road. Gravel roads travel throughout the cemetery reserve.
Park the car and spend some time exploring the notable historic features of this picturesque cemetery.
There's a nice quiet spot up the back near the Chinese burials and memorial monument.
More history and information
Informative sign within the rotunda at the Maldon General Cemetery
The
Victorian Heritage Database provides lots of detailed information and history for the Maldon Cemetery, including the following text:
The Maldon Cemetery was reserved in 1861 and the 6.9 ha (16 acres) grant was gazetted in 1878. The first
burials in the town of Maldon, established following the discovery of gold at the nearby Tarrangower diggings in
1853, were near the Methodist Chapel, but after 1861 the remains were transferred to the new cemetery.
The
cemetery was laid out to a design by William Fella Smith, the acting Shire Secretary and one of the Trustees of
the Maldon Cemetery Trust, who was commissioned to design a garden setting with drives, pathways and a rest
area.
The present layout is the same as that shown on a surviving early plan drawn by W. H. Waller in 1872
(held by the Cemetery Trust). The cemetery is unusual for its lack of division by religious denomination. The old
section of the cemetery includes a number of Chinese burials and mining memorials, and has a brick Chinese
funerary tower dating from about 1865.
The cemetery entrance, which lies between two large cypress trees, is
flanked by a sexton's lodge built in 1866 and an octagonal rotunda, thought to have been built in about 1900.
The brick gutters lining the paths were begun in about 1866.
There have been over eight thousand burials in the
cemetery including 121 Chinese, and some of the monuments were designed by the well-known Bendigo
architectural firm W. Beebe & Son.
The Maldon Cemetery reserve is about 3.2 kms north of the township of Maldon in a spectacular setting at the
base of Mt Nuggetty.
Only about two-thirds of the rectangular reserve is used for burials, while the northern
portion is still heavily timbered with Eucalyptus microcarpa (Grey Box) and is unfenced.
The original layout is
intact, with a large, slightly skewed central oval linked to the main entrance by a straight drive. The section to the
north has a wide drive which sweeps off the straight drive and curves around to the north and back along the
contour of the hillside.
A series of straight paths then intersect the curved main drive. The paths, whose original
granitic sand toppings have been replaced with crushed bluestone, are lined with brick gutters and granite
culverts.
Important features of the cemetery are the collection of buildings and structures, the Italian cypresses
and the ornamental plantings. A rare Carpentaria californica shrub once near the entrance has died and been
removed.
MORE TO EXPLORE NEARBY
Rock of Ages, Maldon VIC. This is atop Mount Mooral, above the Maldon Cemetery.
Maldon is a beautiful town filled with significant remnants of Victoria's gold rush. Take a look through the following pages to discover more about Maldon.
BBQ
Maldon
