Mitchell George

SURVEYOR: 3D LASER SCANNING

Mitchell George, Honours Surveying student, School of Engineering, University of Newcastle [left] and Will Andrews of Heritage Spatial [right], St. John’s Cemetery, Parramatta (May 2023). Photo: Michaela Ann Cameron.

MITCHELL GEORGE completed a full 3D Laser Scan of St. John’s Cemetery, Parramatta and produced an interactive 3D model of the entire cemetery site in May 2023 with the permission of the private property owners the Anglican Church Property Trust (ACPT). The scan formed a major component of his Honours thesis, Digital Documentation of St. John’s Cemetery, Parramatta, (2023), submitted in partial fulfilment of his Honours degree in Surveying in the School of Engineering at the University of Newcastle under the supervision of Associate Professor In-Young Yeo, and with equipment for the scans and software for the model processing loaned by the University of Newcastle.

Mitchell very generously licensed the resulting data to receive a debut publication on the open-access, non-commercial platform St. John’s Online so the public could benefit from his 3D scans and research for free. The complete 3D model of the site and its structures, which digitally preserves the site as it is in 2023, will become an historical record of the cemetery in its own right. Aside from the obvious advantages of digital preservation, the model will be a reference point for ongoing conservation management, as it will enable heritage professionals to more easily monitor any deterioration of built structures in what is a fragile site exposed to the elements since the scanning was performed. The 3D model can also serve as a virtual tour of the heritage site, so for the many people who are no longer local but have ancestral connections to the cemetery, or anyone who lives remotely with an interest in the cemetery and/or the people interred there, they will be able to virtually experience Australia’s oldest surviving European cemetery from anywhere in the world. Such virtual engagement can also stimulate greater interest in the heritage site that can potentially convert into physical tourism as well. With the free ‘virtual tour’ in mind, the laser scanning data and 3D model will provide a strong foundation for further 3D photogrammetry and GIS work proposed for St. John’s Online, and will be fully integrated with the existing burial data and biographies already available on the website.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Surveying (Honours), The University of Newcastle

Publications

  • Honours Thesis (Surveying): Digital Documentation of St. John’s Cemetery, Parramatta (2023), School of Engineering, University of Newcastle.
  • 3D Laser Scan Model of St. John’s Cemetery, Parramatta (May 2023)
  • Locational Photography, St. John’s Cemetery, Parramatta (May, 2023) featured in the Memorials dataset.

CREDITS: Mitchell George; Associate Professor In-Young Yeo; The School of Engineering, University of Newcastle. Thank you to Dr. Michaela Ann Cameron for liaising with the Church to obtain the license; Susanna Dumbrell, administrative assistant at St. John’s Anglican Cathedral who administered the license; the Friends of St. John’s Cemetery, Parramatta Committee who endorsed the works; St. John’s Anglican Cathedral’s churchwardens, senior minister, Parish Council, Anglican Church Property Trust and the Regional Bishop for granting permission for site access to perform this important work.