General News
9 March, 2023
Buried mysteries to be uncovered
SKIPTON Cemetery will be closed to visitors from Friday, March 10 to Monday, March 13 to allow for a geophysical examination.
SKIPTON Cemetery will be closed to visitors from Friday, March 10 to Monday, March 13 to allow for a geophysical examination.
Visitors are welcome to watch Hunter Geophysics conduct the examination of the front corner of the cemetery.
The area is believed to be a burial site for deceased infants from potentially as far back as the 1850s.
The examination will involve ground-penetrating radar to find hidden graves, and was funded by a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services.
The need for the examination follows a gap in records, attributed to a house fire that destroyed the trust’s records in 1928.
Skipton Cemetery Trust secretary Bob Thornton said a lot of records were lost in the fire, particularly due to the paper-based record-keeping.
“There were probably around 400 burials that we know virtually nothing about, except for the ones that have got monuments,” he said.
“This one is mainly about the babies.”
Mr Thornton said the trust had plans to develop the front corner as a family rest and contemplation zone, but cannot develop the area due to the uncertainty of what may be underneath.
“We don’t want to go disturbing bones; it doesn’t do good for your feelings at all,” he said.
“It’s not like they’re prehistoric people; they’re from our era.”
The trust is welcoming donations to fund the purchase of death certificates relating to the lost records.