Monument record MDR7284 - Graveyard, Castle Street, Melbourne

A large cross mounted on a base is depicted here on the early 17th century map of Melbourne, either symbolising the burial ground or representing an actual stone cross within it. Recorded finds suggest a medieval date for the graveyard. These include a large stone coffin, a stone effigy and fragments of carved monuments. Unfortunately none of these survive. The graveyard may include the site of the medieval church of St Michael, demolished around the time of the dissolution. A slightly raised and flattened area within the graveyard was thought at one time to indicate a possible site, but is now considered more likely to be a mound raised over the new vault of the Coke family when their remains were removed from the parish church during the Restoration in 1860. Recent geophysical survey in the graveyard recorded a large anomaly near the entrance gate which provides an alternative possibility as a site for the lost church. (1, 2) Dates of legible gravestones run from 1695 until 1860 when the graveyard was closed to any further burials, although there were one or two interments by special permission after 1860. It was cleaned up in 1891 and the stones were later lifted and propped against the walls. Of 230 stones in the graveyard, 136 include the names of the engravers or stone masons. (3) The graveyard contains a pair of grade II listed chest tombs, one of 1788, the other early 19th century. (4)