A community group is calling for local support to help restore Australia’s oldest surviving European cemetery.
Known as the ‘gateway to old Parramatta’, St. John’s Cemetery has always been an important part of the city’s history for multiple generations.
But with COVID, lockdowns and plenty of wet weather, maintenance of the cemetery has been difficult for the Friends of St. John’s Cemetery to uphold.
With a working bee to be held on Saturday, March 4 from 8am, the local community group is hoping other residents will be encouraged to pick up the tools and help bring the cemetery back to its former glory.
“Although it’s a small group we do our best, it’s just at the moment we need some help getting the last bit of it under control so we can then keep it under control,” Friends of St. Johns Cemetery President Judith Dunn told Parra News.
“It’s about a five acre plot, so it’s a big place to look after and if people value their heritage, and I know Parramatta people do, it would be great to have a little bit of help.”
Overflowing with history, St. John’s Cemetery’s first burial occurred way back in 1790 for James Magee, the child of First Fleet convicts. The cemetery also holds the headstones of 17 people from the First Fleet, with a further 65 lying in unmarked graves.
Dunn said the cemetery’s history is nothing short of incredible.
“There’s so many people from the pages of history in here and it shows how important this cemetery was,” Dunn said.
“We have people that come not just from this state, but come from interstate and from overseas checking in on their ancestors, which is great fun.
“It’s very disappointing if someone were to come from interstate and couldn’t make their way to an ancestors grave because it’s in the middle of some bushes.”
But the cemetery isn’t just a place that holds Parramatta’s history, it’s also where some locals go to escape the city. Surrounded by a convict-made brick wall dating from the 1820s, Dunn said the cemetery is a peaceful oasis where you can walk in the footsteps of early colonists.
“It’s a lovely green open space within our city,” she said.
“People come in from surrounding units… they just wander in the green space and sit on a headstone and eat their lunch.”
With plenty more developments and high-rise towers planned for Parramatta’s future, Dunn said it’s important to preserve heritage sites like St. John’s Cemetery.
“If you look at Parramatta specifically, you have to hunt for its heritage now among the tall buildings that are going up everywhere,” she said.
“We still have heritage, and it’s still a wonderful place to visit, but the heritage is being overlooked.”
To get involved with the working bee go to http://www.facebook.com/groups/friendsofstjohnscemeteryparramatta.
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.