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St Helena Cemetery

Location

St Helena Road,, GREENSBOROUGH VIC 3088 - Property No B6810

File Number

B6810

Level

State

Statement of Significance

Established in the late 1850s, St Helena Cemetery, a rare example in Victoria of a traditional English parish church with its private graveyard, is of State Significance for the following reasons: -its importance in the course of Australia's cultural history as a sophisticated and substantially intact example of a suburban churchyard burial ground. It exhibits unusual cultural features associated with the development of suburban churchyard burial grounds. -its possession of uncommon aspects of Australia's cultural history as a rare example of a suburban churchyard burial ground. Its importance in demonstrating a distinctive way of life, custom, and design no longer practised and in danger of being lost. It is of exceptional interest as there are very few examples of this typology in Victoria. Its potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Australia's cultural history. Its importance for information contributing to a wider understanding of Australian history, by virtue of its use as a research and reference site. *Its importance for information contributing to a wider understanding of the history of human occupation of Australia. For example by providing information about the patterns of deaths in the area by age, religion, and family; and sometimes giving causes, occupation and other information. By illustrating the importance of homelands in epitaphs and also by demonstrating the range of technical and craft skills and materials available. *For its value as a historical record, a collection of individual memorials, its continuity and security, for the manner in which it inspires a respect for the dead, as a social document, and for its role in education and recretion. -its importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of :(1) A class of Australia's cultural places, being suburban churchyard burial grounds. *Its importance in demonstrating the principal attributes which are characteristic of the class. These are: a small defined cemetery area, a formal layout and close proximity to a church. Its importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of the range of human activities in the Australian environment (including way of life, custom, process, land use, function, design or technique). It demonstrates the pioneering families' desire to establish a traditonal churchyard burial ground and to create a private burial area. -its importance in exhibiting aesthetic characteristics valued by the pioneering community. Its importance to the community for aesthetic characteristics held in high esteem is demonstrated in the value of the cemetery as a small, defined burial ground in close proximity to the church, its setting within the Anthony Beale Reserve, and also in that twentieth century development respected the earlier design. Its importance in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement of the Victorian period. Importance for technical, creative, design or artistic excellence, innovation or achievement, including the cemetery's collection of memorials, tombstones and other funerary art. Its strong or special associations with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. Its importance as a place highly valued by a comminity for reasons of religious, spiritual, symbolic, cultural, educational and social associations. St Helena Cemetery has special associations for the Greensborough community because of its establishment by a pioneering family. Its special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in Australia's natural or cultural history. Its importance for close associations with individuals whose activities have been significant within the history of the State or region and are illustrated in the monuments and epitaphs to them, including the local pioneering family, the Beales, and other notable citizens, including artist Walter Withers.
Classified: 07/07/1997

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