On 22nd October, 2016 many descendants and interested people attended a dedication ceremony following the erection of two granite stones containing the 257 names of those buried in this cemetery.
Regular working-bees are held by our small band of volunteers.
This very old, sweet scented rose still grows in the Ryan grave and has survived many, many years of dry weather and tough conditions. After a good downpour of rain it still produces beautiful blooms.
The foundation stone of this little chapel, the Church of St. Laurence O’Toole, was laid on 16th October, 1850. The brick chapel, as reported in Bishop Goold’s diary, was 35′ long by 15′ wide by 14′ high and was completed by the end of 1850. It was used as a church and a school at various times until 1864 when major flooring in the area damaged the locally made bricks and they began to crumble. Some time after 1874 the chapel was demolished leaving only the outline of the original building as the ruins.
During 2018 our major project has been maintaining, cleaning and repairing the headstones at the cemetery to Heritage Victoria recommendations. Their new pristine appearance can even be seen from the freeway now.
HOPETOUN CATHOLIC CEMETERY 