Sydney’s Dramatic Seaside Cliff Top Cemetery

Waverley Cemetery, overlooking the Pacific on Sydney’s coastline, was established in August 1877, and quickly gained popularity due to its dramatic seaside location and its role as a Victorian-era place of celebration for the deceased. It reflects a cross-section of Australian society through its interments, which include a mix of prominent figures from various fields alongside everyday people.

With over 100,000 graves, Waverley Cemetery remains a significant historical and peaceful site, cherished by the local community.

It is regularly cited as being one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world. The cemetery contains the graves of many significant Australians.

Famous people buried here includes Australia’s first prime minister, Edmund Barton, poet Henry Lawson and Archibald Prize benefactor, AJ Archibald. As well as its many Victorian and Edwardian graves it also features a memorial to victims of an Irish rebellion in 1798 against English rule in Ireland erected by Irish migrants to Australia.

The cemetery is owned by Waverley Council and was designed to function along similar lines to Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris and Kensal Green Cemetery in London.

The land on which Waverley Cemetery is located is traditionally the land of the Cadigal people of the Eora nation. As with most Aboriginal groups in Australia prior to European colonisation, the Cadigal people lived a traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Although Waverley Cemetery is not known to contain identified Aboriginal sites , its cliff top environment is regarded as archaeologically sensitive as it is considered likely to contain sites of Aboriginal significance.

Destination: Australia