It was my privilege this morning to attend a ‘celebration’ at which the local community proudly displayed the results of their efforts to research and then restore a small Wesleyan Methodist Cemetery at Corunna (south of Narooma).
With modest funding from the Heritage Near Me people in the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, gravestones were restored, brass plaques were erected on gravesites of known but unmarked graves, and a very informative interpretation board was erected. This includes a list of the names of those who are known to be buried in the cemetery, photographs of a number of these people, a short history of Corunna which includes a fabulous map identifying where various families lived, and a history of the Church and graveyard.
It was suggested by several speakers that this little cemetery now displays the most comprehensive information about its ‘residents’ and history of any cemetery in NSW, and possibly Australia.
It is certainly worth visiting.
Evidently Eurobodalla Council is organizing a tour that will take in this cemetery, Tilba cemetery and Wagonga cemetery at some future time. If we receive details, we will share them here.
We also plan to include more information about this cemetery and Corunna in a future issue of ‘Recollections.’ Meanwhile the work of the cemetery committee, led by well-known local Harry Bate, deserve considerable praise.
For more great stories of South East NSW history visit South Coast History Society https://www.facebook.com/southcoasthistory
