In between Greymouth and Murchison on the side of the road in amongst bush and mountains is this little wee cemetery.
Back in the day from 1862 there was a huge cold rush in this area after Maori prosectors started finding gold in the creek. There are many unmarked graves here and most of them have headstones that are falling apart. This one is known as the new cemetery but there is a much older one that I will need to visit.
The town grew quickly reaching to a population of approx 2000 by the 1880s and it was a stopping point on the main road through the Upper Buller Gorge. Back then I would imagine how hard it was getting a horse and cat through the dense bush.
Around 1901 the population of people had gone down to about 90 and by halfway through the 20th century the town was abandoned.
The town which was located across the road is now a campsite and walkway. Some of the residents include people such as Joshua Barclay who was born in 1839 in Ireland, Catherine Byrne born 1839 in Ireland and Aveline Broderick born in 1893.
In 1869 two Italian Miners named Antonio Zala and Giorgio Zanetti discovered gold in quartz veins and their mine was worked on from 1872 until 1912. It really is a very peaceful area with the odd car driving past on the road and the Buller Gorge is usually a very misty place.
Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world, Wordless Wednesday.
14 comments:
Really interesting history. Thanks for the photos and the story
This is the sort of places I would love to visit and photograph
What an interesting history. I love the old photos that you added to give us a sense of the place back then.
Interesting back story for the photographs.
Must´ve been hard times. And for gold... I´ll never understand that.
Gold is quite a fever when you think about the earth/rocks/water they moved to get at it just in the Buller Gorge alone - then multiply that up....around the island. The towns that boomed and then disappeared. We are not far from Cancastown - once a booming gold town - now a school and about 3 other buildings.
Indeed very interesting to see and read. It was grueling in those days, though.
I love rambling through old cemeteries. So peaceful, and it's comforting in some ways.
Thanks for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2025/02/an-ghaeltacht.html
...I love this old cemetery!
Interesting to read about. Thank you for sharing.
Must have been quite the town in its heyday.
Interesting for sure.
Interesting piece of history.
I love old cemeteries. Yours looks great. Here in Oklahoma there is such an overlap of populations over the years that there are old Native American cemeteries in the most unlikely of places.
I LOVE old cemeteries! such a unique setting.
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