"On The Edge"

Waverley, New South Wales

Waverley is one of the most populous suburbs of Sydney, located on the cliff-tops in prime Broad-headed snake habitat to the east of Sydney.

Waverley Cemetery is a huge cemetery, established in 1877 that now covers 170,000 sq.m. and contains 50,000 graves and memorials, amongst them a megalithic monument to Irish Martyr's dedicated to the patriots of the 1798 Rebellion, the 1867 Fenian Rising, the 1916 Easter Rising, the 1981 Hunger Strikers of Long Kesh Prison and the Gibralter Three. Most of the monuments and graves are constructed from the local Hawkesbury sandstone, there is a lot of sandstone above ground in this cemetery.

The decline in Broad-headed snakes in the area was first notice by Australian herpetologist Gerard Krefft (1830-1881) who recognised that snake numbers were declining as rock was taken and land was built upon. No snakes were in evidence during our visit to Waverley and it seems most likely the broad-headed snake has been extirpated.

Waverley with its Hawkesbury sandstone cliffs and cliff-top cemetery
Waverley Cemetery
Waverley Cemetery	Irish Martyr's Memorial