| Memorial Park Cemetery | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Location: | Albany, Western Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates: | -35.0178°N 117.8894°W | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Findagraveid: | 2534398 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Memorial Park Cemetery also known as Pioneer Cemetery and Old Albany Cemetery is a cemetery located along Middleton Road in the city of Albany in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.
It was constructed in 1836[1] and is the first consecrated cemetery in Western Australia, gazetted in 1840 as a public burial ground to provide for the needs of a growing community. It was closed as a public cemetery in 1959,[2] with a few burials being held there until 2000 and ashes placed there until 2009. Most burials now being held at Allambie Park Cemetery.[3] It is thought to be the longest serving public cemetery in Western Australia.[1]
The hillside cemetery occupies an area of approximately 2.5ha and is divided into demoninational sections containing a total of approximately 5,000 graves.[4] It is composed of two parts, the upper cemetery and the lower cemetery, separated by Middleton Road.[2] Easily accessed by pedestrians the site has a number of mature native and exotic trees and a range of diversity, style and age of memorials and grave fittings on the plots.[1]
Classified by the National Trust in 2000, the cemetery was listed on the permanent register of the Heritage Council of Western Australia in 2003.[1]