Payneham Cemetery

I’m a history buff and while it may sound weird, I like old cemeteries. They are literally full of history.
The Payneham Cemetery on Marian Road at Payneham South is a fascinating place where some of the state’s early settlers were buried.
Did you know that in South Australia the law states that we don’t buy grave sites in perpetuity, they are only ever leased and for most of the historic graves at Payneham that lease was usually for 100 years. As a result of this, many of the oldest graves have been removed and the sites have been resold which is why there are so many new graves there now. What I like about this place is they’ve gone out of their way to preserve history by restoring the old headstones and keeping them on site. While some may think this is a completely maudlin practice, I think they deserve points for preserving what they can of history.
Some of the historic headstones that have been preserved include Kate Boadecia Cocks, SA’s first female Police Officer AND founder of the Kate Cocks Babies Home at Brighton. Also buried there is Edward Castres Gwynne who pioneered the South Australian Supreme Court and Capt Thomas Cowling, the manager of several historic SA mines.
If you like a bit of history, go for a visit. Its fascinating.