A funeral parlour that is a beautiful old building is unique itself. Bower Funerals is hidden off a…read moreside street and there is parking available. You can't see the beautiful building until you walk off the path, and there it is. The condolence book was on the verandah for signing, tissue packs on offer and the walk to the room to celebrate a life was through the hallway. Perfect surrounds for a lovely send off. An usher had petals in a basket for placing on the coffin and then it was into an adjoining hallway which led into another room for refreshments. I didn't take photos but so wanted to. An amazing fireplace surrounded by brass artwork. I've never seen anything like it in my life. Coffee and tea was poured and staff even handed around trays of sandwiches and mini rolls. I don't know whether they do the catering themselves or have it brought in, but it was quality food. A mixture of biscuits too for those with a sweet tooth. A very nice venue for a final send off.

From the owner: Bowen Funerals is a locally owned and operated business proudly servicing the local community.read more

Such wonderful serenity here. I've been taking services here since I first became a celebrant and…read morehave always loved the calm ambience. Wirra Wonga is an area of the cemetery that is reserved for those of us who prefer the unspoiled beauty of nature. There are no headstones, no neat rows of graves and no non-natural elements. Simply pick a tree to spend eternity under. Beautiful. This might be a strange place to review - but it happens to all of us eventually ......

Sadly I've been to a few funerals here of late. Whilst these are incredibly sad times, the right…read moresetting is important to help farewell a loved one. The grounds here are beautiful and open. Green grass and inlaid plaques as far as the eye can see. Beautiful trees line the roads that weave visitors to the two chapels (with colour coded markings on the road which I think is super clever). The chapels are neutral, which I guess is important for such an event. The only thing I would say is that the chapels and the rooms that you gather in after the funeral service are both quite small. At each service I've been to, many people have been left standing, some outside during the service and the refreshment room has been uncomfortably packed, which is not ideal when trying to pass on condolences. Maybe that says more to the love for those that have passed than the space itself.

I'm a history buff and while it may sound weird, I like old cemeteries. They are literally full of…read morehistory. The Payneham Cemetery on Marian Road at Payneham South is a fascinating place where some of the state's early settlers were buried. Did you know that in South Australia the law states that we don't buy grave sites in perpetuity, they are only ever leased and for most of the historic graves at Payneham that lease was usually for 100 years. As a result of this, many of the oldest graves have been removed and the sites have been resold which is why there are so many new graves there now. What I like about this place is they've gone out of their way to preserve history by restoring the old headstones and keeping them on site. While some may think this is a completely maudlin practice, I think they deserve points for preserving what they can of history. Some of the historic headstones that have been preserved include Kate Boadecia Cocks, SA's first female Police Officer AND founder of the Kate Cocks Babies Home at Brighton. Also buried there is Edward Castres Gwynne who pioneered the South Australian Supreme Court and Capt Thomas Cowling, the manager of several historic SA mines. If you like a bit of history, go for a visit. Its fascinating.

Warning to anyone that's thinking of using Fulham Funerals DON'T DO IT…read more Fulham Funerals clearly do not care about families or the deceased. we sent them an email, they called us to tell us they would investigate and then didn't call back and sent us an email fobbing us off. Here is a summary of the email we sent. Anthony White the driver. got lost, when he arrived he parked at the wrong house. He then unloaded the trolley and bought it into the house backwards. He wasn't able to get the trolley into the room where my Nan's body was. He then provided me with a Death verification form with the wrong name written on it. I corrected this and told him the correct spelling. He assured me that he would make sure that was all corrected. - this was not. Anthony tried to move my Nan but was unable too. I, my brother, and my cousin were needed to help move my nans body to the hallway. Anthony was very arrogant and said he could do it several times before he realised he couldn't. Once we got Nan onto the trolley in the hallway. Anthony then faffed about trying to get her body into a bag, My brother had to catch my nans head as Anthony was being very rough with her body and didn't support her head at all. I had to hold one end of the trolley as it was about to topple over. This whole episode was very distressing on my Grandfather who had just lost his wife of 62 years. Anthony White, then returned on the Thursday to help with the planning of the service etc. And all the paperwork in his handwriting was written again with the wrong name when I asked him why it was still incorrect he told me that it was the office girls job not his to correct it. Anthony made it very clear during the conversation that we needed to pay in full before the funeral or we would get an additional $495 "admin fee" He said cardboard coffins are annoying as they get stuck in cremation flutes, this was extremely upsetting for my Grandfather who then left the room in tears as all he could think of was my Nan being stuck in the flutes. The next I heard from your offices was Tuesday the 23rd When Angela Drosd sent me the invoice for the funeral. She gave me 5 hours to pay the $5449.50 or I would incur the $495 fee, as the funeral was the following day. The invoice also still had the wrong name. It then took a further 2 phone calls and 2 hours to get the correct invoice. This was the 3rd occasion Fulham Funerals got my Nans name wrong. we were given less than 4 hours to find $5449.50 and pay in full is disgusting or we would have been charged what amounts to a late fee of $495. The funeral then took place on the 24th of April. The coffin arrived damaged on the right hand side and the name plate attached to the coffin had the date of death 16/03/19 A full month wrong. When questioned about it Anthony said "oh well not much we can do about it now" we made it very clear to Anthony on the 18/4 that Dates and Times where a big thing to my Nan and the fact it was incorrect was a massive blow to our family. These are things a family shouldn't need to worry about when they are trying to say a farewell to their loved ones. Overall I am deeply disappointed and thoroughly disgusted at the services my family has received. Your business prides itself on 30 years in the business and to have such a total stuff up with the important things like the person's name, and date of death. I find sickening.

No reviews for here yet - obviously a morbid place to review, but having just trusted Fulham…read moreFunerals with my lovely mum's service (not to mention everything they do behind the scenes) I feel obliged to leave some positive words. When my mum passed, there were no funeral arrangements in place, and being her only child it was up to me to take care of it all. Fulham Funerals never treated me any differently for being an unemployed 23 year old. They respected me, my mum, and the whole situation, and with great empathy helped me give my mum the best sendoff I could with what I had. They didn't try to push extra expenses my way and even advised me on what I could do myself rather than pay for. The service ended up being perfect and almost two months later I am still in touch with the funeral director, which just goes to show how above and beyond they are willing to go to be there for you in your time of need. And I seriously cannot thank them enough.

Centennial Park Cemetery on Goodwood Road at Pasadena is possibly Adelaide's largest cemetery. It…read moreis certainly has the most manicured and well looked after grounds. Established back in 1936 and owned by the councils of Mitcham and Unley, the cemetery occupies some 40 hectares of land. While many people think of cemeteries as spooky and scary places, they are actually quite peaceful places and are full of history. They also provide a fascinating look into how we deal with the inevitable arrival of death in our different communities. Along with its many burial and cremation sites, Centennial Park also has two areas dedicated to war graves. There is the Adelaide War Cemetery with around 200 service personnel buried there. This area was established back in 1942. The second and more recent war graves area is the South Australian Garden of Remembrance run by the Office of Australia War Graves. You'll find this garden at the back of the cemetery in the far right hand corner if you enter from Goodwood Road. This is a beautiful spot that provides a solemn reminder of all those who served during Australia's different conflicts. Centennial park has an annual open day where all areas of the cemetery are open for public viewing - including the crematorium! You wouldn't believe the number of people who turn up for the open day and they're all eager to have a good look around all of the facilities. It's fascinating.

Reviewing a cemetery might sound like an odd thing to do, but I'm going to do it anyway. Firstly…read morebecause of it's wonderful tranquility, and secondly because it really is a beautiful area to visit. The park was first established back in 1936, and I think that they hadn't quite anticipated the phenomenal growth that's taken place since then! In 1938, a total of 10 burials took place; 50 years later in 1988 there were 4,547 services in that 12 month period. There are many people who enjoy visiting cemeteries to visit graves of the famous, and Centennial Park has its share of 'celebrities' too; Sir Donald Bradman being one and James Cyril Stobie (inventor of the Stobie Pole!) to name but a few! The grounds are staggeringly beautiful with an array of almost every native plant, tree, shrub and flower on view. And they are all kept magnificently by a dedicated team of gardeners and carers. There are 7,800 rose bushes for example, and each one is lovingly cared for. So if you're at a loose end on a Sunday arvo, why not pay 'CP' a visit? Park your car and just walk. It really is quite beautiful.