The Lonely Graves reserve may not be so lonely in a few years time.
The historic site, south of Millers Flat and just over the hill from the Clutha River, has stood alone for more than 100 years.
But now pine trees have been planted on the edge of it and there are fears they will encroach the reserve, shading the entire area.
The site is managed by the Department of Conservation (Doc).
Doc Central Otago operations manager Charlie Sklenar said the department was aware pine seedlings may have been planted on the Doc-managed historic reserve.
An Otago Daily Times reader, who wanted to remain anonymous, said they were concerned about the plantings across a designated reserve land.
They said regulations had been breached by planting within 10m of a boundary or road.
The road would be shaded in winter and the Lonely Graves site will be encroached by mature trees.
The site is one of the few surviving landmarks of the former Horseshoe Bend settlement on the east bank of the Clutha River.
In 1865, gold miner William Rigney came to Horseshoe Bend and an unmarked grave caught his attention.
This grave was where the body of a man who had been found on nearby Rag Beach in February, 1865, had been buried.
No-one could confirm the identity of the body and so the man was buried without a name.
Mr Rigney and another miner obtained a piece of black pine and having shaped it into a headboard used a tomahawk and a four-inch nail to engrave the words ‘‘somebody’s darling lies buried here’’.
Mr Rigney confessed to a special interest in the grave, saying he would end up the same — a lonely grave on a bleak hillside.
He was said to have expressed his desire to be buried alongside the grave, and thanks to local residents his wishes were met after his death in 1912.
The respect, reverence and care for this site, first shown by William Rigney is continued to this day.
This site is symbolic and memorialises all those who died lonely deaths on the goldfields and were often buried in long-forgotten graves.
