York Cemetery

Statement of Significance

York Cemetery has considerable historic value as the burial place of many pioneering European settlers in York - the first inland town established in the Swan River Colony, and is the fourth oldest colonial cemetery in continuous use in Western Australia.
It has aesthetic value for the range of designs, skills and materials evidenced in the collection of monuments, palisades, railings and funerary elements in the picturesque setting on the side of Mt Brown.

Physical Description

The York Cemetery was originally on an a six acre subdivision allocated in 1874 divided into Anglican (the southern third), and four other denominations that were allocated the other two thirds.
York Cemetery has since been extended eastward, doubled in size with the newer eastern section being a little larger than the original allotment.

History

The site of St John’s Anglican Church and Cemetery served as a multi-denominational cemetery from 1842 until 1874.
The York Cemetery was allocated in 1874 and divided into five denominations. In the 1930s, a new section of land was acquired to the east. The cemetery was redesigned with a slight realignment of the front boundary fence, some internal roads, a new entrance and the relocation of some graves. Some remediation of the water runoffs was undertaken. At a later stage, a toilet block and then a rotunda, dedicated in 1990, with niches to take cremation urns, were built and a lawn planted near the rotunda.

Integrity/Authenticity

High

Condition

Good

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.