Established in 1860 Naseby Cemetery is one of Central Otago’s earliest cemeteries. Surrounded by forest, Naseby Cemetery is a classic among cemeteries and well worth a visit.

Here you will find elaborate gravestones decorated with memento mori (symbolic reminders of death) such as angels of grief, crosses, urns, columns and books. Original wrought ironwork and wooden grave surrounds can also be found here. Naseby Cemetery also has many paupers’ graves. Most of these were marked with sarsen stones, also called Chinamen’s rocks by early gold miners. Cemetery records show that about 56 Chinese miners were buried at Naseby and some of these burials sites can still be found today around the perimeter under the trees. Although it’s known that some graves were exhumed with their bodies taken back to China as was the custom.

The Naseby Vision Cemetery Committee has identified headstones that need restoring and have already restored some headstones. Maniototo Community Board works with Naseby Vision on enhancement projects to this special cemetery. The cemetery is administered and maintained by Council and operates as a dry land cemetery. Interments are done privately by the sexton for the cemetery which is arranged through Council. The cemetery has interment sites available and ashes can be interred in standard plots.

Records for this cemetery are held at the Council offices in Ranfurly.