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5
THE VALUE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF CEMETERIES
5.1
GENERAL
Cemeteries
are an important part of Australia's heritage. The burial places of
our ancestors provide a history of the nation's growth and a valuable
insight into its development. Cemeteries may be the only place where
a person's life in Australia is recorded.
Many cemeteries
are examples of formal nineteenth century garden design, with landscape
elements seldom seen outside public gardens. Unusual examples of art
and craft found in the design of many monuments portray symbolic nineteenth
century views of death, often quite different from current customs.
Nevertheless the landscape of an old cemetery is of continuing importance
to the present community, as a place of comfort to the bereaved and
as a therapeutic environment which may help them recover from their
loss.
It is
not only nineteenth century cemeteries and monuments that are significant.
Nearly all cemeteries, including "younger" or "active" cemeteries, are
valuable social documents of history and document changes in taste,
custom and design.
5.2
CEMETERY COMPONENTS & THEIR HERITAGE VALUES
The Burra
Charter and the Australian Natural Heritage Charter define a number
of "values" which may contribute to the heritage significance of a place.
All cemeteries have social and historic values, and most have a greater
or lesser degree of aesthetic and scientific values. The natural elements
of a cemetery contribute some additional values, broadly referred to
as existence value and life support value. Any one or more of these
values may be important in assessing the heritage significance of a
cemetery, and all should be considered.
The National
Trust has adopted the heritage values outlined in the Burra Charter
and the Australian Natural Heritage Charter and applied them directly
to cemeteries. The heritage values identified below can be used as a
basic checklist to ensures that all cemetery components are considered
when assessing heritage significance.
5.2.1.
HISTORICAL VALUES
The cemetery
is an historic record of Australian society. Through its establishment
and use, the cemetery documents European settlement patterns and the
development and growth of a community. The graves and monuments provide
important demographic data about a community. Cemeteries often contain
monuments that commemorate significant events in a local community,
such as a mining disaster, shipwreck, or war. Cemeteries can also have
historical significance by virtue of the graves of noted individuals
who have made important contributions to the community.
5.2.2.
SOCIAL VALUES
Cemeteries
have an important commemorative function within the community. The community
often attaches attitudes and values to the graves, such as respect or
reverence. Many cemeteries hold a special significance for individuals
or communities as a result of personal sentiment and / or attachment
to those buried within the cemetery. Early European settlers' graves
and war graves are examples of graves that are often considered socially
significant to the whole community.
5.2.3
RELIGIOUS VALUES
Cemeteries
reflect the religious beliefs and customs of different sections of the
community. These are demonstrated in the customs and rituals associated
with burial and commemoration. Religious adherence and beliefs can change
over time, and this is often reflected in the monuments and layout of
the cemetery. Twentieth century cemeteries in particular reveal the
expanding multicultural nature of Australian society with a broadening
of religious faiths. The cemetery itself may also have significance
for particular religious groups and also for individuals. It may contain
chapels or robing rooms associated with a particular religious group;
or perhaps burials of a particular religious group.
5.2.4
GENEALOGICAL INFORMATION
Nearly all
monuments record genealogical information. Some headstones provide further
biographical information such as personal history and cause of death.
In the case of headstones predating Civil Registration (pre-1856) the
cemetery may provide the only records of men, women and children of early
settlements. Grouping of monuments often indicates family connections,
and consequently grave markers should not be considered in isolation.
5.2.5
ARTISTIC, CREATIVE and TECHNICAL ELEMENTS
Many cemeteries
reflect both the changing attitude of the community towards death, and
developments in architectural and artistic style and theory. Artistic
values can be found in the landscape design and layout of the cemetery,
and in the monument styles, grave surrounds and grave furniture.
The cemetery
may be significant on account of the variety of artistic approaches
represented in its monumental architecture, and also in the quality
of craftsmanship.
Cemeteries
often contain examples of work by local artisans and manufacturers.
A monumental mason often signed the monument or headstone, allowing
the work of local craftsmen to be identified. As well as the monument
itself, the execution of the lettering for the inscription may demonstrate
fine workmanship. Iron grave surrounds may be locally produced, and
sometimes bear the name of the manufacturer or iron foundry. Grave markers
may also show creative or technical ingenuity, through their use of
materials or execution. This is particularly true in isolated rural
districts where access to skilled monumental masons was not always available.
5.2.6
SETTING
A cemetery
is often significant on account of its relationship to the natural or
built environment. It may be a prominent feature of the landscape or
it may be located adjacent to a church or form a significant element
within a townscape. For family cemeteries located on private property,
the location and setting of the cemetery is often specifically chosen
to reinforce visual relationships, such as between the homestead and
the cemetery.
Sometimes
several cemetery components (such as its setting, vegetation, and monuments)
may combine to give it a nostalgic or restful quality that is appreciated
by a particular group.
5.2.7
LANDSCAPE DESIGN
The arrangement
of burial areas, alignment of drives, paths, avenues of trees and massing
of shrubs add significance to cemeteries as does the extent to which
this design is still evident or has been changed. Overall landscape
quality is determined by the combined effect of setting, landscape design,
and botanical elements.
5.2.8
BOTANICAL ELEMENTS
Some cemeteries
contain significant remnants or indications of the original natural
vegetation, while early burial grounds often contain a variety of plantings
which are no longer evident elsewhere. Extant evergreen trees, bulbs,
roses and other original grave or landscape plantings contribute to
the cemetery's visual and nostalgic quality. Plantings were often chosen
for their symbolic meanings, particularly in the nineteenth century.
Cemeteries
may therefore provide a valuable resource as a botanical collection
or as a source of rare specimens of native or introduced plants.
5.2.9
LIFE SUPPORT ELEMENTS
As noted
above (5.2.8), some cemeteries contain significant remnants or indications
of the original natural vegetation. Such natural plant associations
may also provide a sanctuary for native animal life. Even where no rare
or threatened species are identified, a cemetery may contain a rare
or particularly well-preserved example of the ecosystems originally
present in the area. For this reason it is important to consider the
plants as an association, not just as a collection of types, and also
to look at whether they attract birds or other fauna which add to the
value of the cemetery to the community.
5.2.10
HUMAN REMAINS
The human
remains in a cemetery are not generally visible but they comprise a
major element of heritage significance. Reasons for their importance
include archaeological and scientific potential, issues of religious
belief, their meaning to relatives, and general community respect for
our ancestors. These issues remain relevant for unmarked graves and
for burial areas cleared of previous monuments, as well as marked grave
sites.
5.3 NSW
HERITAGE OFFICE CRITERIA FOR HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE
The NSW
Heritage Office is the statutory authority that protects our State's
heritage. The Heritage Office uses a system of seven specific criteria
to establish the significance of an item (or place). These criteria
are broader than those specifically applied by the National Trust to
cemeteries, but are comparable. The relationship between heritage values
and criteria is explained in 5.4.
For a
cemetery to be assessed for statutory listing on a Council's Local Environmental
Plan or on the State Heritage Register, the seven criteria must be used.
Analysis in this format is essential if a place is proposed to be listed
on the State Heritage Register. Evaluation in standard format will also
improve the likelihood of funding support from the Heritage Office or
other government agencies.
The criteria
are:
- an item
is important in the course, or pattern, of NSW's cultural or natural
history;
- an item
has strong or special association with the life or works of a person,
or group of persons, of importance in NSW's cultural or natural history;
- an item
is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high
degree of creative or technical achievement in NSW ;
- an item
has strong or special association with a particular community or cultural
group in NSW for social, cultural or spiritual reasons;
- an item
has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding
of NSW's cultural or natural history;
- an item
possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of NSW's cultural or
natural history;
- an item
is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class
of NSW's cultural or natural places; or cultural or natural environments.
The
last two criteria relate to rarity and representativeness. Places
can be significant either for their rarity or their representativeness,
which may seem contradictory. In fact, the State Heritage Register
needs to cover both to ensure that the Register will truly represent
the full range of variation of a certain kind of place. Obviously
unique or rare examples must be included, or the identified list will
be incomplete. But equally, any more common kind of place must be
represented in the identified set of sites, and it is only sensible
that the selected examples show the general features of that kind
of place - in terms of tastes, styles, period, or other aspects. Though
not outstanding in its own right, a cemetery can be the best example
of a large group of similar sites which document local or general
cemetery development.
The
seven criteria are designed to operate at either "local" or "State"
level. Places which are significant for a large regional area should
be allocated to the more appropriate level, "State" or "local".
To assist
and support evaluation of significance, individual components or aspects
of the item may be "graded" according to
- their
contribution to significance of the whole, and
- their
state of preservation and/or relevance to the rest.
More information about Heritage Office criteria can be found at www.heritage.nsw.gov.au
5.4 ASSESSING
HERITAGE VALUES OF CEMETERIES
As the
preceding discussion has shown, there are a number of types of significance
which need to be considered when assessing the heritage values of cemeteries.
Which criteria should you use? The National Trust's list of ten heritage
values outlined in 5.2 has been specifically developed for cemeteries.
The NSW Heritage Office's seven criteria are broader and apply equally
to houses, parks and cemeteries. The National Trust recommends that
its ten heritage values for cemeteries be used as a checklist to ensure
that all elements of a cemetery are considered when evaluating its heritage
significance. These values can then be used as the basis for forming
a statement of heritage significance according to the NSW Heritage Office
criteria.
The table
below compares the National Trust's ten cemetery values with NSW Heritage
Council criteria and the values identified in the Burra Charter and
the Australian Natural Heritage Charter to illustrate their relationship.
From the table it can be seen that the National Trust cemetery values
expand upon the criteria developed in the conservation charters, allowing
specific, detailed analysis of a cemetery's natural and cultural heritage
significance. The first five Heritage Office criteria are roughly analogous
to the values in the conservation charters. Heritage Office criteria
6 and 7 (rarity and representativeness) are comparative values that
theoretically can be applied to any other heritage value. In the comparative
table, the most likely heritage values for listing cemeteries on these
comparative bases have been identified.
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