LOCATION
Bright cemetery is located in Coronation Avenue.
An area of 2 acres was reserved for cemetery purposes in Bright in 1863, and rules and regulations were
submitted the same year. The earliest trustees were Joseph Dunphey, appointed in 1863; and John Burt May and Henry Traulsen,
appointed in 1871. The first secretary of the trustees was Lewis Kinchela. A 2-acre extension adjoining the site on the east
were reserved in 1868. A further extension of 4 acres and 18 perches fronting Coronation and Deacon Streets was reserved in
1870 in response to a significantly high mortality rate amongst the children of the district over the previous year, mainly
owing to a diphtheria epidemic. The trustees argued that if the local death-rate was to continue in this way, the existing
cemetery at Bright would be completely filled within four to five years. A further extension of 1 acres and 16 perches fronting
onto Deacon Street was added in 1877.
The layout of this cemetery followed the standard layout
by way of denominational sections, and a relatively large Chinese section. Several Chinese miners were buried here in the
1860s and 1870s. Their graves were marked with headstones that were engraved river stones, many of which have been souvenired
over the years. The cemetery was embellished with carriage drives and paths, and with considerable ornamental plantings.
Government botanist Ferdinand Mueller donated plants to the Bright Cemetery in 1871. John Nuttall,
the honorary secretary of the Bright Cemetery Trust, was directed by the local member of parliament, G.V. Smith, to apply
for an additional quantity of ornamental trees in 1873. He requested sycamore, beech, horse chestnut, elm, Lombardy poplars
- about 1 dozen of each). The 1890 report found the cemetery to be "well kept and well planted with trees and shrubs".
Two areas of 1 acre and two roods (part of the 4.0.18 reserved in 1870) and 1 acre 16 perches (reserved
in 1877) were excised from the Bright cemetery in 1954; this land was considered unsuitable for burial purposes owing to its
physical features. The cemetery was relatively well maintained during the twentieth century. In 1968 it was proposed to establish
a lawn area. This was completed in 1976, and includes a memorial wall for cremations.
Its
memorials represent well the important gold era which drove development of the district in the nineteenth century, including
all facets of the former gold town such as mine engineers, contractors, pioneer gold prospectors, Chinese miners, and storekeepers.
The Mueller planting from the 1870s also parallels a Colony-wide interest in ornamental planting which may also be seen in
other major gold centres such as Bendigo.
Associations with Mueller are evident from the fine trees (bunyas, cedars)
which form the ornamental core of the cemetery planting. These trees, in turn, resemble the core planting in the centre of
Bright, setting a distinctive character for the town judged within the State.
The form of some Chinese graves in the cemetery is unusual in that the memorials and enclosures combine
European with Chinese burial traditions not seen elsewhere in the State. The type and grouping of the trees (cedars, bunyas)
is also unusual, as is the large leaf oak example.
The layout of this cemetery followed the standard layout by way
of denominational sections, and a relatively large Chinese section. Several Chinese miners were buried here in the 1860s and
1870s. Their graves were marked with headstones that were engraved river stones, many of which have been souvenired over the
years. The cemetery was embellished with carriage drives and paths, and with considerable ornamental plantings.
Two areas of 1 acre and two roods (part of the 4.0.18 reserved in 1870) and 1 acre 16 perches (reserved in 1877)
were excised from the Bright cemetery in 1954; this land was considered unsuitable for burial purposes owing to its physical
features. The cemetery was relatively well maintained during the twentieth century. In 1968 it was proposed to establish a
lawn area. This was completed in 1976, and includes a memorial wall for cremations.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Bright cemetery lies on a grassed rise backed by
gum forested mountains. Its forest connection arises from its association with the development of Bright which from c1900
was the centre of forest establishment on the surrounding gold mine areas and before that, it was a town which showed great
interest in the use of ornamental exotic trees in its streets and public reserves to both enhance the amenity of the town
and the experience of nineteenth century tourists who came to the area for its proximity to the nearby mountain forests. The
memorials contain a mixture of nationalities which reflect the international fame of the Victorian gold fields and in turn
the connection between the effect of mining and the need for forestation.
The cemetery is entered
via gates, with rubble freestone piers and associated low wall and a wire fabric gate pair with pipe frame and scrolled ornament.
The gates were apparently connected with a Rotary project of 1971. The main axis of the cemetery corresponds with the north-south
road from the gate leading up to the bunyas and deodar cedars linked with von Mueller. Before this group of trees is a group
of Chusan palms (a typical nineteenth century choice), an ash, cedar and a large leaf oak (Algerian?) which is thought to
be rare. A group of cedars is on the east side boundary. Between the trees and the gate are two timber structures, one a weatherboard
sexton's lodge to one side of the path and the other an octagonal shelter straddling it. The graves generally face west.
Memorials are distributed mainly on the high ground either side of the main access road with grass
filling the large area between.
The cemetery has been through a number of development stages, each reflected by the many relatively well
preserved memorials erected with an emphasis on the nineteenth century in terms of the distinctive monuments and valuable
planting. Beyond this the fencing is post World War Two and thus represent a narrow phase of its history.
