6 St Vincent St, Auburn.
New owners will move in to revive an old Auburn church following its sale while the remains of more than a dozen others will be moved out.
The ashes of 16 people interred in the Clare Valley will be dug up and moved next week after the Anglican Church sold off what was to be the deceaseds’ final resting place.
The ashes were buried on the grounds of the former Church of St John in Auburn which sold in April for an undisclosed price.
Families of all but two of the deceased had been contacted and consulted over where the remains would be reinterred, confirmed Reverend Anne Ford, from the church’s Willochra diocese.
Relatives of the remaining two could not be located, said Rev Ford, who declined to disclose the deceaseds’ identities.
6 St Vincent St, Auburn.
6 St Vincent St, Auburn.
6 St Vincent St, Auburn.
“This has all been done very sensitively and very reverently. We have been very transparent,’’ Rev Ford said.
“Leaving (the ashes) in the ground (at the church once it had been sold) was really never an option.
“We had to do something with them, of course, and I’m hoping we have done the right thing by everybody.
“There were a couple of people who were not overly happy initially but that seems to have quietened down and I’ve had some very nice emails (from relatives) saying thank you so much for keeping us informed.’’
Rev Ford said the Willochra diocese would foot all costs associated with the removal and reinterment of the ashes.
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The families had agreed to have the ashes reinterred at either the Auburn town cemetery or nearby cemeteries at Penwortham, Bungaree or Saddleworth, she said.
While the church dates back to 1862, Rev Ford said the ashes belonged to those who had died in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Most were local parishioners, however one had seemingly little ties to Auburn, other than owning a holiday house in the tiny cellar-door town.
“The two sites of ashes that we just have not been able to track the people (relatives) for – and we’ve gone to great lengths – are not known to anyone in Auburn so I’m not quite sure why their ashes were put there,’’ Rev Ford said.
6 St Vincent St, Auburn.
6 St Vincent St, Auburn.
“But we’re planning, in agreement with the new owners (of the church) to have something outside the property saying where the ashes that were in the ground are now (in case a relative ever returns).
“We’ve chosen for (those ashes) to go to Penwortham, being that Penwortham and Bungaree are the two church cemeteries.’’
Dwindling attendance numbers forced the church’s closure in 2024 and the property was listed for sale last year.
The buyers, a couple from Adelaide, intend to convert the church into their full-time residence.
“As a priest, I’m always really sad when it comes to the point you have to sell churches,’’ Rev Ford said
“But if they have to be sold, for them to be going to someone that actually is going to live in them and not just buy them and do them up and rent them out or sell them, is the best option.
“There’s hundreds of churches being sold around the country, not just Anglican churches … and the reason is because no one is coming (to church anymore) – if we had a congregation then of course, we wouldn’t close.’’
A short prayer service, prior to the removal of the ashes, will be held on the church site next Tuesday.
– by Lauren Ahwan
English (US) · 