Woronora Memorial Park

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Woronora Memorial Park
(1)Woronora Cemetery Sutherland 026.jpg
The Art Deco crematorium, built in 1934.
Woronora Memorial Park
Details
Established1895
Location
Woronora, New South Wales
CountryAustralia
Coordinates 34°01′58″S151°03′07″E / 34.0328752°S 151.0519931°E / -34.0328752; 151.0519931
TypePublic
Owned by Government of New South Wales
Size112.25 acres (45.43 ha) [1]
No. of interments900,000 (buried)
137,000 (cremated)
Website Woronora Memorial Park
Find a Grave Woronora Memorial Park

Woronora Memorial Park (often referred to as Woronora Cemetery) is a cemetery in Woronora, Sydney, Australia.

Contents

History

Woronora Cemetery was established in 1895 with the first burial on 2 April 1895. [2] In 1902 the Devonshire Street Cemetery was closed to make way for Central railway station and some graves were relocated to Woronora. The first cremation occurred in April 1934. [3]

The cemetery is managed by Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries NSW (officially "Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Land Manager"), consisting of Woronora Memorial Park and Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park, which replaced the Woronora Memorial Park Trust upon gazettal on 3 August 2012. [4]

Crematorium

The original crematorium building, incorporating two chapels and a dual-furnace crematory, was completed in 1934 in the Inter-war Art Deco style by architect Louis Leighton Robertson of Louis S. Robertson & Son, architects, and built by Norman R. Smith, builder of Bexley. [5] [6] [7] Robertson also designed crematoriums in a similar style at Matraville (1938), Kembla Grange (1955), and Beresfield (1936). [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] The crematorium was officially opened on 21 April 1934 by the Colonial Secretary, Frank Chaffey. [13]

In 2018, the 1934 crematorium was decommissioned and a new crematorium able to accommodate the increasing demand for cremations was completed to a design by architects Gardner Wetherill Associates. [14] [15]

Transport

A 750-metre railway line opened on 28 July 1900 branching off the Illawarra railway line at Sutherland terminating at Woronora Cemetery railway station. [16] It closed on 23 May 1947. [17]

Notable people

Notable people interred at Woronora Cemetery include:

References

  1. ↑ "THE WORONORA CEMETERY". The Sydney Morning Herald . No. 18, 011. New South Wales, Australia. 9 December 1895. p. 3 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ "REVENUE RETURNS OF NEWCASTLE PORT". The Daily Telegraph . No. 4923. New South Wales, Australia. 2 April 1895. p. 6 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ Our History Woronora Memorial Park
  4. ↑ "ESTABLISHMENT OF RESERVE TRUST" (PDF). Government Gazette Of The State Of New South Wales . No. 80. New South Wales, Australia. 3 August 2012. p. 3628. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "Building and Construction - Woronora Crematorium". The Sydney Morning Herald. New South Wales, Australia. 30 May 1933. p. 4. Retrieved 4 July 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "NEW CREMATORIUM FOR WORONORA GENERAL CEMETERY(SYD.)". Construction and Real Estate Journal. New South Wales, Australia. 7 June 1933. p. 8. Retrieved 4 July 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ "WORONORA CREMATORIUM". The Sydney Morning Herald. New South Wales, Australia. 4 July 1933. p. 5. Retrieved 29 March 2021– via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "Crematorium At Kembla Grange". South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus. New South Wales, Australia. 12 July 1954. p. 9. Retrieved 4 July 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ "NEWCASTLE CREMATORIUM". Newcastle Morning Herald And Miners' Advocate. New South Wales, Australia. 3 August 1935. p. 18. Retrieved 4 July 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ "NEW WORKS". The Sydney Morning Herald. New South Wales, Australia. 18 May 1937. p. 3. Retrieved 4 July 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ "BOTANY TO HAVE CREMATORIUM". The Daily Telegraph. New South Wales, Australia. 20 April 1937. p. 8. Retrieved 4 July 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  12. ↑ "NEW CREMATORIUM". The Daily Telegraph. New South Wales, Australia. 4 May 1937. p. 10. Retrieved 4 July 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  13. ↑ "WORONORA CREMATORIUM". The Propeller. New South Wales, Australia. 13 April 1934. p. 3. Retrieved 29 March 2021– via National Library of Australia.
  14. ↑ Gainsford, Jim (16 June 2018). "Woronora Memorial Park gets new crematorium to cope with increasing deaths and rising obesity". St George and Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  15. ↑ "Woronora Cremator". Gardner Wetherill Architects. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  16. ↑ 1895 'THE WORONORA CEMETERY', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 9 December, p. 3. , viewed 24 Apr 2019
  17. ↑ Woronora Cemetery Line NSWrail.net
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