There's a new piece of heritage property in Bridgewater. Town council has designated the Brookside Cemetery as a historic site after a recommendation from its advisory committee. Councillor David Mitchell says the decision was a no-brainer.
"There was no question the value of it as a heritage property, the names of the important people from the past in Bridgewater that are in the cemetery and the uniqueness of the stones that are in there made a perfect case for it to be added."
Brookside Cemetery was opened in 1879 by Dean Wile, who was manager of the local carding mill. Among the notables buried in the cemetery are Mather Byles DesBrisay; a judge, politician and author who founded the local museum and Victoria Ernst, the first female doctor in Bridgewater. Mitchell says its a key step after losing two heritage properties last year.
"We lost two last year; one with the de-registration of the Riverview Community Centre and the other with the loss of the Fairview Inn in the fire, so it is important to have some more protected sites within the town because you want to maintain those for generations."
The Holy Trinity Anglican Church on Alexandra Avenue is the only other heritage property in Bridgewater. The town will now register a legal document through the province to recognize the cemetery as a heritage property.
