Sydney's must-see cemeteries: Historian believes graveyards also designed for the living
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The first words in Lisa Murray's new guide book are the emphatic proclamation: "I love cemeteries."
What follows are pages of history about 101 Sydney cemeteries, must-see headstones and tips — like the top five cemeteries for picnics, views and birdwatching.
Top 5 cemeteries for picnics
- St Jude's Anglican Cemetery, Randwick
- St John's Anglican Cemetery, Ashfield
- Presbyterian Cemetery, Ebenezer
- St Thomas' Rest Park, Crows Nest
- Rookwood Necropolis
The historian for the City of Sydney believes graveyards are not just for the dead to rest, but are "designed for the living".
"I think they're really interesting places of social history," Dr Murray told 702 ABC Sydney.
"It's not just about the stories on the headstones, but these are places designed for people to go to and mourn and also to wander around and reflect upon life and death."
On Monday at the official launch of Sydney Cemeteries: A Field Guide, Dr Murray sold copies of her book from the back of a hearse, which was on loan from a friend who is a funeral director.
She also gave tours around one of her favourite spots: the Camperdown Cemetery in Newtown.
The notable headstones she pointed out included one with an angel blowing a trumpet and the grave of Sarah Blackett, wife of architect Edmund Blackett who built St Stephen's Anglican Church on the grounds in 1874.
There was also a rusty metal ship's propeller belonging to engineer John Leys who was originally buried in Balmain.
"It's a well-used and well-loved cemetery with dog walkers and people just wanting respite from the busy urban space," Dr Murray said.
"Part of the reason why I wanted to do this book is to raise the awareness about the beauty of cemeteries and how much history there is there; whether you're interested in birds or plants, architecture or social history."
Other cemeteries in the guide include the destitute children's asylum cemetery in Randwick, the coastal cemetery in Little Bay "for the views", Rouse Hill Cemetery and the Gore Hill cemetery, which Dr Murray said was one of the best examples of gothic architecture from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Cemetery 'code of conduct'
Dr Murray said she became interested in cemeteries while studying burial practices across western Europe and wrote a PhD thesis about the history of cemeteries in 19th-century New South Wales.
She hoped her field guide would encourage others to pay cemeteries a visit, but added that a level of decorum had to be practised.
"I always recommend visiting cemeteries with someone else as they're often quite large places and you never know who or what you may encounter from snakes to spiders to feral goats," she said.
"You shouldn't feel shy, but be careful and don't ever walk on a grave itself if you can avoid it, especially if you can see the curve stones as some can be unstable and can collapse."
Topics: death, community-and-society, religion-and-beliefs, architecture, history, offbeat, sydney-2000
