The Gore Hill Memorial Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery located on the Pacific Highway in St Leonards, Sydney, Australia. It was established on 19 May 1868 by the New South Wales politician, William Tunks, and is one of the oldest and most significant remaining cemeteries in metropolitan Sydney. The first interment was in 1877, and until its closure for burials in 1974, 14,456 burials took place. Most burials took place between 1900 and 1930. It is also known as the Gore Hill Cemetery. The cemetery is situated on Crown land and is managed by a not for profit community organisation, Northern Cemeteries, through a Board of Trustees. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 25 May 2001.
There are 17 war graves of Commonwealth service personnel of World War I, registered and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
History Development, establishments and early operations In 1864, William Tunks, prominent Parramatta businessman, who owned land in the North Shore area, was elected member for St Leonards in the Legislative Assembly of NSW. Tunks soon moved to North Sydney and began an interest in local affairs, in particular the establishment of a general cemetery in the area. In 1867 the Surveyor General instructed licensed surveyor Armstrong to confer with Tunks and examine locations for a general cemetery. A plan was submitted by Armstrong for a 14-acre area of Crown Land at Gore Hill, with burial areas for the religious denominations allocated in proportion to the total population. Areas were also allocated for a general cemetery, future extensions and a central road. The plan gained approval from the Minister for Lands despite some opposition by local residents. The following year Tunks sought protection for the site from the Secretary of Lands following repeated incidents of cutting and removal of timber. He expressed the opinion that a number of the existing trees "...ought to be left standing for the purpose of shade and ornamentation...". Subsequently, Willoughby Council agreed to protect the land pending the appointment of trustees.
The first part of the Cemetery was dedicated on 19 May 1868 and in 1870 The Borough Councils of St Leonards, East St Leonards and North Willoughby were appointed trustees of the cemetery. In 1871 the Borough of Victoria was appointed as the fourth trustee. It is likely that a cemetery committee was appointed around this time. Tunks was named as the chairman of the cemetery trust. A grant was received from Treasury for the erection of a four-rail pig-proof fence enclosing the site. In 1875 responsibility for Gore Hill Cemetery was transferred from the four boroughs to lay trustees of the authorities who had been allocated land. This resulted in the formation of seven separate and independent cemeteries sharing a common carriage way. In 1877 burials commenced and minor landscape works were carried out in some sections by individual trusts.
William Tunks died in 1883 and was buried at the entrance to the Church of England section, the first burial in this section. A monument was erected. In 1884 the first combined Committee of trustees was formed. The following year the Committee put forward plans to improve the cemetery grounds, build a caretaker's residence, make a wide avenue, kerb and gutter, clear stumps and undergrowth, trench around the site to 16 feet, and plant evergreen shrubs. The NSW Department of Justice authorised the Trustees to build a caretaker's cottage on half an acre of the Extension Reserve, west of the Carriageway.
In 1886 the caretaker's cottage was constructed, the driveway cleared, and grounds cleared. James Kennedy was appointed caretaker by the Committee of Trustees with responsibilities including grave digging, planting trees, maintaining borders and weeding. Discussions took place on having the carriageway planted with an avenue of trees. A total of 56 burials were recorded to December 1886. In 1887 the Trustees received a Treasury grant to undertake improvements to the cemetery grounds, including planting, provision of seats and gates, trenching and asphalting. A sub-committee was formed to carry out the works. In 1890 a picket fence, high, was erected and painted along the Lane Cove Road (now the Pacific Highway) boundary. Four years later the general section east of the carriageway was redesigned for extensions to the Wesleyan, Presbyterian and Congregational sections. By 1899 an estimated 2096 burials had been performed at Gore Hill Cemetery. Between 1898 and 1900 the carriageway was regraded and guttered, and a shelter shed erected and between 1900 and 1901 the Carriageway was surfaced with blue metal. Some monuments and remains from the Devonshire Street Cemetery, in use 1819 to 1901, were relocated to Gore Hill Cemetery at the time of construction of Central railway station. The remains were transferred before the redevelopment of Devonshire Street Cemetery in 1901.
1902 to closure in 1974 In 1902 iron gates with stone piers were erected at the main entrance on Lane Cove Road (now the Pacific Highway). The sandstone was from Waverley Quarry and the piers were constructed by W. E. Parry of Gordon. The iron work was by Mr George Wales of Clarence Street, Sydney. East of the Carriageway the General Section and Extension area were eliminated. The Jewish area was relocated. New burial areas for Roman Catholics and Unsectarians were allocated. Extensions were given to the Presbyterian, Wesleyan-Methodist and Independent areas. Trustees of the General Section became the Trustees of the Unsectarian Section.
West of the Carriageway, the Extension area was eliminated in 1903 to provide for extensions to the Church of England burial area and the establishment of a Baptist burial area. East of the Carriageway, the Roman Catholic, Methodist, Jewish and Unsectarian burial areas were redesigned. The present brick retaining walls along the Carriageway were erected by the Combined Committee of Trustees. A timber, Gothic style Robing Room and Chapel was erected in the new Church of England extension, near the Carriageway; it was destroyed by fire in 1975. The Dalton vault was erected in the first Roman Catholic Section.
In 1904 the Trustees were informed by the Department of Lands of the discontinuation of government subsidies for general maintenance and improvements. In 1906 the Trustees produced "Regulations for the Management of the Portions of the General Cemetery at Gore Hill" and in 1908 the portion of the Cemetery east of the Carriageway was revoked and re-dedicated for General Cemetery. In 1910 Mr Kennedy was succeeded as Sexton by Frederick Crowe. In 1917 east of the Carriageway, the Roman Catholic and Unsectarian areas were redesigned and the Jewish Area eliminated and in 1919 east of the Carriageway the Methodist and Presbyterian burial areas were redesigned to increase the Presbyterian area. Internal boundaries of burial areas were finalised. In 1922 the stone archway at the entrance to the Baptist Section was presented to the Trustees of that section by T. E. Rofe of Wahroonga. All burial plots were sold by this time. In 1926 a portion of the western boundary was claimed by the Main Roads Board for the widening of Lane Cove Road. The change did not encroach upon the burial areas of the Baptist, Church of England, and Roman Catholic Trusts.
A dividing fence between the public recreation area and the cemetery was erected in 1926 and two roods and 26 perches were taken from the Lane Cove Road boundary. The existing metal and wire fence was possibly erected at about this time, with the cost being borne by the relevant government authority. The Carriageway was resurfaced with tar and macadam in about 1930. The following year a new Code of Regulations was prepared and adopted by the Trustees. There is little information available about the cemetery for the Depression and World War II years. In 1948 two sandstone monuments to members of the Hordern family were transferred to Gore Hill Cemetery from St Stephen's, Newtown (Camperdown Cemetery) when the latter was converted to a Rest Park. In 1949 a new sexton's cottage was built at the southern end of the cemetery, adjoining the highway. By the 1950s burials had decreased, and in 1974 the cemetery ceased operating. To signify its closure and change of status from a working to a memorial cemetery, it was renamed the Gore Hill Memorial Cemetery. In 1965 a combined Trust was set up to carry out administration of the Cemetery. The following year the NSW Government passed Act No. 52, 1966, to provide for the care, control and management of cemeteries by municipal councils. However, the Act did not apply to Gore Hill. Willoughby Council expressed no interest in the acquisition of the Cemetery.
In 1967, due to concerns over funding arrangements for maintenance the Trustees proposed a future policy to the Minister for Lands that the Cemetery be converted to a botanical garden with significant monuments and vaults to be conserved and others removed. On 27 May 1971, a special meeting of Trustees heard a report from the Mayor of Willoughby on the Government's proposal to close Gore Hill Cemetery and convert it to a "rest park". The meeting resolved to accept the proposals. All Cemetery staff were dismissed on 12 November and no further maintenance was carried out. The Sexton, Mr Vandine, was permitted to remain in the cottage in a caretaker role.
The last burials in the Cemetery occurred early in 1974. On 24 April, the Minister for Lands informed the Trust that the Gore Hill Cemetery Bill 1974 would be enacted and the Cemetery closed to burials from the 18 May 1974. Under the Act the land was to be dedicated as a public park, with Willoughby Council as trustees who were required to "improve" the Cemetery as a rest park and garden. The Act also required Council to consider the views of the Royal Australian Historical Society with respect to the historical aspects of the Cemetery.
1975 to 1989 Concerns over the future of the cemetery and fears over its demolition resulted in a public meeting of protest being held in 1975. The meeting resolved to request Willoughby Council to rescind its motion adopting the "rest park" plan. It also resolved to form a group to be known as The Friends of Gore Hill Cemetery to work for the conservation of the Cemetery. In 1976 Willoughby Council requested the Minister for Lands to repeal the Gore Hill Act 1974. The Society of Australian Genealogists completed transcriptions of the inscriptions on all the monuments and Gore Hill Cemetery was Classified by the National Trust as an historic cemetery. The Heritage Bill was enacted in 1977, providing for the Heritage Council of New South Wales as the Government's advisory body on conservation of the State's environmental heritage. Established in 1978, the Heritage Council of New South Wales recognised Gore Hill Cemetery as an item of the State's environmental heritage, although no conservation order was made in respect of the site.
In 1979 The Heritage Council made available a grant of $35,000 for specific conservation works. The Department of Lands received a Treasury allocation of $50,000 for conservation works at the Cemetery, with an indication of further contributions of $50,000 over each of the next five years. A working committee was established in December comprising Department of Lands (convenor), Willoughby Municipal Council, and the Heritage Council. The Working Committee released a Discussion Paper in May 1981, and in July engaged consultant, Lesley Gulson to implement the conservation strategies outlined in the Paper, over a six-month period. In November the same year the Working Committee staged a public exhibition and associated lectures to seek comment on the strategies. Restoration work commenced on the Cemetery drainage system. By the end of 1981/82 membership of the Friends was 290.