Chinese Funeral Tower

Bendigo Cemetery

The Bendigo Cemetery Funeral Tower is a reminder of the large number of Chinese who came to the Bendigo goldfields. It is a reminder of a distinctive different religious practise, it records how religious the Chinese were that they paid and erected this monument. It is another record of early multicultural nature of the goldfields. Its aesthetic nature is valued by the community as well as being a valuable tourist attraction.

The Bendigo Cemetery Funeral Tower is an hexagonal (80cm wide for each side) tuckpointed brick structure some 4m high and set on a bluestone foundation. There are two brickwork saw tooth string courses, one set below the roof along with bricks (special) brackets. The peaked roof is formed in galvanised sheet metal with a decorative blue cowl at the apex. There are two small ocular for burning and a small rake out hole at the base. This funeral tower is identical to the White Hills Cemetery Funeral tower although the later has had a replacement roof.

There are over 250 known Chinese burials around the Funeral Tower but no grave plot map only recorded as burial numbers (receipt numbers). There are presently forty nine tombstones. This Funeral Tower is still in use by the Chinese Associations at Cheng Ming Ceremony (sweeping of the grave around April 5th). The earliest known Chinese burial was 24th July 1859.