Merton homestead was originally settled in 1825 on the east side of the Hunter River, and became the centre of the first village in the Upper Hunter Valley. As years passed, the settlement moved closer to the river and eventually relocated to the western side of it, where the town is today known as Denman.

Burials were made in two locations near the old settlement of Merton. According to a handwritten transcription of a list of 36 interments, created in 1962 (found in the Denman Tourist Information Office in 2014; copy posted on the Merton Cemetery Restoration Group's facebook page), the Old Merton Cemetery existed about 200 yards to the west of the main Merton Cemetery, and only one of the four headstones there was legible. (See separate Findagrave page for Old Merton Cemetery).

According to a Facebook post by the Merton Cemetery Restoration Group on 9 April 2013, the main cemetery has approximately only a dozen intact or relatively intact headstones. The names of only 100 burials are recorded, although the MCRG believes there to be about 160 burials here.

The cemetery stands on private land, which is now a vinyard.

More information is provided below, as Merton is an historic placename and no longer appears on many maps:

Merton Cemetery Restoration Group
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Merton-Cemetery-Restoration-Group-350489068388928/
(a post here suggested The Anglican Parish of Denman as a contact point for information about the cemetery, on (02) 6547-1149).

MCRG Photographs of Headstones:
www.facebook.com/pg/Merton-Cemetery-Restoration-Group-350489068388928/photos/

NSW Government State Heritage Inventory page for Merton Cemetery
apps.environment.nsw.gov.au/dpcheritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=2120010

Background information about Merton / early Denman
upperhunter.org/denman/

Wikipedia page
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merton_(New_South_Wales)

A book (of unknown title) recording the known interments for this cemetery was written by local historian Rob Tickle sometime prior to 2016. Other works of his are available from:
The Muswellbrook Shire Local and Family History Society
muswellbrook.nsw.gov.au/index.php/history/local-and-family-history-society