Unmarked graves found at Bordertown Caravan Park

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February 22, 2021

Grey nomads who have stayed at a popular South Australian caravan park have been sharing the camping area with some long-term residents … very long-term residents!

Ground-penetrating radar has just revealed the location of 25 unmarked graves at the Bordertown Caravan Park on the South Australia/Victoria border.

Before 1870, the town’s cemetery was located where the caravan park is now situated, but for the past 150 years burials have been conducted at the existing cemetery in Melvyn Street.

The burial sites were located by Andrew Frost, a PhD student from Flinders University as part of his research project.

Tatiara District Council’s director corporate and community services Kingsley Green said finding the unmarked graves was made easier by information from some locals.

“We had some information from Robyn Miles and some other people about the approximate location, but we didn’t know the exact location of where the graves were,” he said.

Mr Green explained that heat maps and changes in soil profile had found that there were disturbances in the ground, resulting in the discovery of the previously-unknown graves.

Last year, the council decided to embark on a $1.4 million upgrade of the Bordertown Caravan Park, which will see new eight cabins constructed at the site.

However, it has now been discovered that one of the cabins was set to be located near the newly-discovered graves.

Mr Green said the location of the cabin has since changed with the council wanting to preserve the area, along with commemorating the unmarked graves in a sympathetic and positive way.

“We want to respect, acknowledge and commemorate the area in some way by having a nice hedge, a sitting area, or a garden that acknowledges the people,” Mr Green said.

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