Abandoned Pet Cemetery in Gawler, South Australia

The final resting place for over 200 beloved pets, Atkinsons Cemetery is a touching rural space where pet owners once paid respects to their furry and feathered friends long since passed. Established in 1972 with a cost of up to $400 a plot (and an optional coffin and burial service), the forgotten graveyard was purchased in 2010 and will form a small piece of what is to set become a modern housing estate.

Tiny headstones adorned with engraved portraits and faded engravings lay covered in dust from the lonely neighbouring dirt road. A handful of small empty spaces dot the grounds – the result of owners who were lucky enough to be called upon by the lands purchasers to collect their loved one’s headstones before the tractors arrive. An autumnal place of reflection, this small and thoughtful overgrown block will inevitably be lost in the dust.