The Cemetery by Crownwood Road in Crown Mines.



Ask many people who lived in the Crown Mines area about the grave that was in the veld near Crownwood Road and they will know about it. My brother even told me the story about how he saw the grave after a fire had cleared some of the bushes in the area, and I then decided to investigate this potential burial site. On 11 September 2011 we headed out to find the grave, and when we eventually did find it, we were surprised to find that instead of this being a single grave, it is actually a small cemetery. Only one grave has a grave marker which has been broken, the others are stone covered mounds, and there are as many as 10 of them. Sadly though, there is no real idea of how big the cemetery is, or when it dates from. However, given the recent discoveries of graves when the mine dumps were removed from that area anything is possible. It is possible that these are the graves of African mine workers who worked on the mines in that area.
Upon investigation I was told ".....There could be as many (or more than) as 100 graves here - mostly stone packed and without headstones and any legible inscriptions. As far as is known (based on info given verbally) these graves could be dating to the late 19th to mid 20th centuries, but It cannot be confirmed. It was also indicated that some Indian people have been visiting the graves the last few years (on 16 December), so some might even have an Indian origin but this cannot be confirmed."
The graves are situated North East of the position 26° 13.522'S  28° 0.357'E











© DR Walker 2009-2012. Created 11 September 2011.