• Home
  • Articles
    • Front Page
    • General Interest
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Snippets
  • Competitions
  • Our Community
    • Our People
    • Question of the Week
    • Be Seen
    • Jobs in The Central West
  • Features
    • Rural Round Up
    • Loving Local Living
    • Wellness Wise
    • My Place
    • Real Estate
    • Recipe of the Week
  • Sports
    • Canowindra Bowls Club
    • Canowindra Junior Rugby League
    • Canowindra Senior Rugby League
    • Cricket
    • Footy Tipping Competition
    • Golf
    • Rugby Union
    • Swimming Club
    • Touch Football Results
    • Tennis
    • Other
  • Contact Us
    • Contact Page
    • Advertise with Us
    • Testimonials
    • Subscribe to the Phoenix
    • Submit an Article
    • Previous Print Editions

The Canowindra Phoenix

Your free weekly guide to what's happening in and around Canowindra.

You are here: Home / Articles / News from Canowindra High School … Year 8 English visit to Canowindra Cemetery

News from Canowindra High School … Year 8 English visit to Canowindra Cemetery

25 March, 2014 By editor

Screen Shot 2014-03-25 at 9.41.49 AM

The 8A English class has been studying the novel The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. This book is the story of Nobody ‘Bod’ Owens who is raised by the inhabitants of an historic graveyard in London after his family is murdered. Although it has an unusual premise and some other-worldly characters this is a great book for exploring concepts around our understanding of fear and the acceptance of others.

As part of our study we visited the Canowindra Cemetery where Ms Heather Nicholls from Cabonne Council showed us around and told us some of the history of cemeteries generally and Canowindra specifically.

Did you know we can track when the railways came to an area or the history of bathroom tiles through looking at materials used to mark graves? The oldest graves are usually marked with a sandstone headstone. A marble headstone will be more recent as it would have relied upon train transportation to get to Canowindra. Some graves have markers made of metal and some no markings at all. Some graves are decorated with figures and ornaments which can hold religious or symbolic significance. And yes, some are decorated using bathroom tiles! Unfortunately, due to the choice of material graves can breakdown with time and regardless of how old a grave is it remains the property of, and the responsibility of, the descendants of the person buried there.

Ms Nicholls told us some stories about the inhabitants of our local graveyard which really highlighted the hardships faced by people in the past. Some students were able to add their own stories
through their family’s personal connection to the cemetery.

It was interesting for us to consider the similarities and differences found at the Canowindra Cemetery compared with the graveyard described in the novel. The class has since used some of what they learnt as stimulus for creative writing.

The class and I thank Ms Nicholls for giving up her time to share her passion for cemeteries. I would like to thank the class for their good humour in undertaking the walk to the cemetery on what turned out to be quite a hot afternoon!

Mrs Jones
Head Teacher English

Filed Under: Articles, Special Feature

More News

Staying ‘Home’ For Australia Day

21 January, 2021 By editor

It seems fitting that the name Canowindra comes from the Wiradjuri word meaning home. Canowindra has … [Read More...]

Cabonne Shire Australia Day 2021 Event Information

21 January, 2021 By editor

… [Read More...]

Much To Celebrate

21 January, 2021 By editor

Graham and Debbie Rice had a big week this week, celebrating 46 years of marriage on Monday and … [Read More...]

More articles in this section

  • Happy New Year – From Montrose House
  • Live Music Going Ahead In The New Year
  • Montrose House

More Food & Wine

ANZAC Treat

23 April, 2020 By editor

Caramel ANZAC Slice SLICE • 2 Cups Plain Flour • 2 Cups Brown Sugar • 2 Cups Rolled Oats • 1 … [Read More...]

Enjoy a Cold Christmas Pudding!

16 December, 2015 By editor

Ingredients 2.25 litre vanilla ice cream 2 x 125 punnets of pistachio kernels 1 teaspoon … [Read More...]

The Bite…Coffee Culture

8 July, 2015 By editor

It is a fair generalisation that Australians are culturally obsessed with their coffee. Across the … [Read More...]

More articles in this section

  • The Bite…Winter Warmers
  • In The Vines…Philip Shaw’s New Cellar Door
  • The Bite…Orange Cafe Culture

More Sport

The Canowindra rugby league football club

21 January, 2021 By editor

The season launch for the Canowindra Rugby Football Club’s centenary year was held last week at the Canowindra Bowling Club. This year marks an incredible 100 years of play by the Tigers in Canowindra. Speeches were heard from club president Andrew Whatman and coaches Kevin, Cal and Mick. Ed Clyburn spoke on behalf of the […]

Latest Print Edition

Click here to download the recent issue (617) of The Canowindra Phoenix (2.1mb PDF) 21st January 2021

AWARDED 2018 BEST BUSINESS IN CABONNE

Stay Connected

The Canowindra Phoenix would like to thank you, our Facebook friends, for your continued support and readership!

likeusonfacebook

Canowindra Booklet

Click here to download the 2018 Canowindra Booklet – Explore “The Place You Call Home” Like a Local

Central West Rural Round Up Booklet

Click here to download the Central West Rural Round Up Booklet

Search the Phoenix

Recent Articles

  • Bangaroo Bridge Officially Open 21 January, 2021
  • Staying ‘Home’ For Australia Day 21 January, 2021
  • Letters 21 January, 2021

Contact the Phoenix

Street Address: 84 Gaskill Street Canowindra NSW 2804 Postal Address: PO Box 203 Canowindra NSW 2804 Phone: (02) 6344 1846 Email: editor@canowindraphoenix.com.au or sales@canowindraphoenix.com.au View our Privacy Policy. View our Conflict Resolution Process. View our Ethics and Complaints Policy. Want to advertise with us? Information on our Community Promotions.

Submit an Article

We are always looking for new articles of interest to the local community.

Please feel free to submit an article for possible inclusion in a future issue.

To submit an article, click here to use our online article submission form.

Receive The Phoenix via Email

* indicates required

Copyright © 2021 · Website setup and support: CompleteWPCare