Cemetery Tours
Too afraid to go on your own ? Here's a chance for a guided tour.
Crook as ... Rookwood
Camperdown Cemetery tour
Tours of Camperdown Cemetery
are held on the first Sunday of
every month. “It’s probably one
of the best cemeteries around,”
says tour guide Marcelle
Rodgers. “It’s the third oldest
cemetery in Australia.” Tour
participants will learn about
the Dunbar mass grave, the
final resting place for the 121
victims of the Dunbar, which was
wrecked on the cliffs below The
Gap in August 1857. Sun 2 Mar,
189 Church St, Newtown 2042 (tours@ststephens.org.au www.ststephens.org.au), 11.30am,
$10. Bookings essential.
Rookwood Cemetery twilight tour
Volunteers from Friends of Rookwood,
conduct regular twilight
tours during summer. “It’s the
largest cemetery in the southern
hemisphere,” enthuses tour
guide and grave fanatic Robin
Hawes. You’ll hear stories about
many of the people buried in the
cemetery including Bea Miles,
a colourful Sydney ratbag who
spent most of her life ducking in
and out of jails and taxis. Sun 17
Feb & Sun 16 March, East St,
Lidcombe 1825 (02 9499 2415
home.iprimus.com.au/eckadoubledecka),
5.30pm, $12.
Bookings essential.
St Bartholomew’s Church Cemetery tour
Opened in the 1840s, the cemetery
next to St Bartholomews
Church in Prospect is chocka
with the graves of early settlers
and (we’re told) their ghosts.
As the sun dips in the sky, you’ll
learn all about early explorer
William Lawson (one of the first
European Settlers to cross the
Blue Mountains). Sat 9 Feb,
Ponds Rd, Prospect (02 9839
6087 www.blacktown.nsw.gov.au), 7.30pm, $10. Bookings
essential.