Memorial Park Cemetery | |
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Details | |
Location | |
Coordinates | 35°01′04″S 117°53′22″E / 35.0178°S 117.8894°E |
Find a Grave | Memorial Park Cemetery |
Official name | Albany Memorial Park Cemetery |
Type | State Register |
Designated | 14 February 2003 |
Reference no. | 15756 |
Memorial Park Cemetery also known as Pioneer Cemetery and Old Albany Cemetery is a cemetery located along Middleton Road in the city of Albany in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.
It was constructed in 1836[1] and is the first consecrated cemetery in Western Australia, gazetted in 1840 as a public burial ground to provide for the needs of a growing community. It was closed as a public cemetery in 1959,[2] with a few burials being held there until 2000 and ashes placed there until 2009. Most burials now being held at Allambie Park Cemetery.[3] It is thought to be the longest serving public cemetery in Western Australia.[1]
The hillside cemetery occupies an area of approximately 2.5 hectares (6 acres) and is divided into demoninational sections containing a total of approximately 5,000 graves.[4] It is composed of two parts, the upper cemetery and the lower cemetery, separated by Middleton Road.[2] Easily accessed by pedestrians the site has a number of mature native and exotic trees and a range of diversity, style and age of memorials and grave fittings on the plots.[1]
Classified by the National Trust in 2000, the cemetery was listed on the permanent register of the Heritage Council of Western Australia in 2003.[1]