Rookwood Necropolis, Victorian era cemetery in Cumberland City Council, Australia

Rookwood Necropolis is a cemetery of 314 hectares (780 acres) in Rookwood, about 17 km west of Sydney's central business district, with over 915,000 burials and cremations recorded as at 31 December 2014. It is divided into denominational and operational sections run by three trusts, and its grounds hold the Serpentine Canal, restored across 31 hectares, plus memorial shrines and the Sydney War Cemetery in the eastern section.

In 1862 the Cowper government bought 80 hectares at Haslem's Creek from Edward Cohen's estate, chosen for its isolation and its position on the railway to Parramatta completed in 1856. The Necropolis Act took effect on 1 January 1868, formally dedicating the grounds and creating the cemetery trusts. The first recorded burial was 14-month-old Catherine McMullen in the Roman Catholic section on 7 January 1867; a pauper, 18-year-old John Whalan, had been buried two days earlier without a register entry. A further 233 hectares of the former Hyde Park grant were bought by 1879.

Separate sections for different denominations and communities shape the grounds and reflect the diverse makeup of Sydney's population. Visitors can discover monuments and gravestones in different architectural styles that show the cultural roots of those buried here.

Pathways are wide enough for pedestrians and vehicles, and visitors can explore the grounds by car or on foot. It is advisable to wear comfortable shoes, as the site is very extensive and a thorough visit requires several hours.

The name Rookwood is most likely a corruption of Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, England, then among the world's largest cemeteries. The village around the site was renamed Rookwood in 1879, and in 1913 became Lidcombe, a blend of the mayors' names Lidbury and Larcombe; the cemetery kept Rookwood. The first burial, on 5 January 1867, was 18-year-old John Whalan, a pauper, and it went unrecorded in the register.