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CEMETERY REEF GULLY CEMETERY
MOUNT STREET CHEWTON, MOUNT ALEXANDER SHIRE

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Victorian Heritage Register
CEMETERY REEF GULLY CEMETERY SOHE 2008
CEMETERY REEF GULLY CEMETERY SOHE 2008
CEMETERY REEF GULLY CEMETERY SOHE 2008
1 cemetery reef gully cemetery mount street chewton site view feb1997
cemetery reef gully cemetery plan
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Statement of Significance

Primary historical records on the cemetery in Cemetery Reef Gully are scant. Its origins lie with the great Mount Alexander alluvial goldrush of 1851-54. Like the other small cemeteries linked to this rush, the Cemetery Reef Gully Cemetery would have closed c.1857. The cemetery is situated at the head of a gully that drains directly into Forest Creek. Gold seekers, in the frenzy for gold, chose a convenient patch of ground where gold was unlikely to be found, but one which was totally unsuitable in terms of the effect it had on the hygiene of those working and living along Forest Creek.

The Cemetery Reef Gully Cemetery is of historical, archaeological and scientific importance to the State of Victoria.

The Cemetery Reef Gully Cemetery is historically important due to its association with a key event in Victoria's history and a defining moment in the development of Australia's character and culture. The cemetery is associated with the first significant rush to the district. The Cemetery Reef Gully Cemetery is historically and scientifically important as a very rare artefact of Victoria's greatest gold rush. A comprehensive archaeological survey of the Castlemaine district undertaken in 1989 concluded that ' because of the ephemeral nature of structures and technology (predominantly, timber and human sweat) employed in the early gold-rush days there is little physical evidence of the intensity of activity and cathartic social experience sustained by the study area during the rush years'. The significance of this site is also derived from its setting: the cemetery overlooking the heart of the Forest Creek diggings and the township of Chewton.

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    • Permit Exemptions

      CEMETERY REEF GULLY CEMETERY - Permit Exemptions

      General Exemptions:

      General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.

      Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.

      Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.

      Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions.

      Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.

      Specific Exemptions:

      EXEMPTIONS FROM PERMITS:
      (Classes of works or activities which may be undertaken without a permit under
      Part 4 of the Heritage Act 1995)

      General Conditions:
      All permit exempt alterations are to be planned and carried out in a manner
      which prevents damage to the fabric of the registered place or object.
      Should it become apparent during further inspection or the carrying out of
      alterations that original or previously hidden or inaccessible details of the
      place or object are revealed which relate to the significance of the place or
      object, then the exemption covering such alteration shall cease and the
      Executive Director shall be notified as soon as possible.
      If there is a conservation policy and plan approved by the Executive Director,
      all works shall be in accordance with it.
      Nothing in this declaration prevents the Executive Director from amending or
      rescinding all or any of the permit exemptions.
      Nothing in this declaration exempts owners or their agents from the
      responsibility to seek relevant planning or building permits from the
      responsible authority where applicable.

      Layout
      Repairs, conservation and maintenance to hard landscape elements, buildings
      and structures, ornaments, roads and paths, fences and gates, drainage and
      irrigation systems

      Landscape
      The process of gardening and maintenance to care for the cemetery landscape,
      planting themes and removal of dead plants
      Management of plants in accordance with Australian Standard, Pruning of
      amenity trees AS 4373
      Removal of vegetation to maintain fire safety and to protect registered
      buildings and structures
      Removal of plants listed as State Prohibited and Regionally Controlled Weeds
      in the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994

  • Notes See all notes

    Gravestone Joseph Barnes

    • 07/06/18

    From visit August 2017 by Bill Barlow. The only gravestone with discernible words is lying down at the head of stones marking the grave of a child, Joseph Barnes 'the only beloved son of Jas [James] and Alice Barnes from Fleetwood Lancshire who departed this life Oct 8th 1855 aged 2 years and 6 months'. See Ottery, Early Gold Mining at Chewton. Davison, Grave Reflections. Bowden, Doctors and Diggers. Joseph drowned accidentally after falling in a waterhole. Portland Guardian 25 Oct 185, p.2.

    Images See all images

Public contributions

Notes See all notes

Gravestone Joseph Barnes

• 07/06/18

From visit August 2017 by Bill Barlow. The only gravestone with discernible words is lying down at the head of stones marking the grave of a child, Joseph Barnes 'the only beloved son of Jas [James] and Alice Barnes from Fleetwood Lancshire who departed this life Oct 8th 1855 aged 2 years and 6 months'. See Ottery, Early Gold Mining at Chewton. Davison, Grave Reflections. Bowden, Doctors and Diggers. Joseph drowned accidentally after falling in a waterhole. Portland Guardian 25 Oct 185, p.2.

Images See all images

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