Moa Creek Cemetery

Also known as the Ida Valley Cemetery, Moa Creek has to be one of the most unusual cemeteries in the country looking more like a Bronze Age burial mound than a modern cemetery. The reason why the graves were laid out on the mound is the fact that the nearby Poolburn River was prone to flooding and this mound was the only high ground.

Moa Creek Cemetery is located in the scenic Ida Valley on Smalls Road. Access to the cemetery is across the paddock opposite the old Moa Creek Hotel.

The earliest recorded burial was John Trenbirth in 1871. Prior to the restoration of the cemetery in 2010, the last known burial was 1945. Some 32 people are known to be buried in the historic part of the cemetery but there will undoubtedly be more. Only 23 graves remain marked today, five being memorial stones of Chinese miners. Records for the cemetery are now fragmented due to the burial register being lost in a house fire in 1964.

Moa Creek Cemetery is administered by the Moa Creek Cemetery Trust and maintained by volunteers. All burials and records are managed by the Trust and Council holds a copy of the records at the Ranfurly Service Centre.