Sites

A small portion of the leper cemetery was maintained and fenced off by the prison authorities. This enclosure surrounds only those graves, which are easily identifiable and have formal headstones. In reality, the leper cemetery contains thousands of graves, most of them are unmarked. The sequence and patterns of burials are poorly understood. It is quite possible that the original VOC burial ground was the starting point of the lepers' cemetery, which grew very rapidly during the 19th and early 20th centuries. A site inspection has shown that the cemetery is extensive, occupying a large portion of land between the existing logistics offices extending as far as the prison and possibly as far as the Kramat. Present the most outer identified graves of the leprosy settlement. Outlier graves have also been found in the vacant land to the south of the prison. The vast majority of graves are unmarked while many others are marked  with simple shale headstones without any inscriptions. Apart from the small area set aside by Department of Correctional Services, most of the site is densely overgrown with alien vegetation. Despite this, it is still possible to distinguish formal paths and features that show that the cemetery was once well maintained and landscaped. The 1985 aerial photograph shows that a hedge (Manitoca) marked the outer boundary of the cemetery. Alien vegetation has since grown out of control spreading throughout the cemetery and its environs.