 Dating from the early 1820s, the cemetery demonstrates the early recognition of the independence of Catholics in a Protestant (particularly Anglican) -dominated colonial society, and important phases in the origins, nature and development of the Catholic community in Australia.The cemetery's fabric demonstrates an evolving approach to the planning and spatial organisation of the place as a burial ground, the development of funerary customs and tastes, and changing notions of appropriate landscape and architectural design.The stylistically restrained Gothic-revival styled mortuary chapel is the focal point for a largely surviving formal entry layout, oriented towards Church Street, of considerable charm and distinction.