In 1931, the Sunday Times reported:[3] When a representative of this paper visited the cemetery yesterday he found a skull almost intact, leg and arm bones, and other parts of poor mortal remains.

When the general public can depend upon viewing the actual remains of a dead person, and when mere children also have sight and access to such, it is time that someone in authority awakened.

In the 1930s, the various church authorities relinquished control of the individual grants and the entire site was then re-vested as Crown land and declared a disused burial ground.

[4] From the mid-1930s, control and responsibility for the grounds moved between various government departments and numerous projects were undertaken to refurbish the historic site.

A major redevelopment project in the late 1980s provided for landscaping and perimeter fencing to protect the church and remaining monuments from vandalism.

[5] The East Perth Cemeteries are significant for the following reasons: The National Trust of Australia (WA) is responsible for conservation works, landscape maintenance and education and learning programs for local schools.

[7] In about 1870 an extension designed by colonial architect Richard Roach Jewell was incorporated and the enlarged building was consecrated as a parish church by the first Bishop of Perth, Mathew Blagden Hale on 16 February 1871.

St Batholomew's became a popular place of worship for many of the wealthier and predominantly Anglican households in the city which typically lived on Adelaide Terrace and overlooked the Swan River.

It was refurbished in 1954 but ceased to function as a parish church in 1963 and for a period operated as a refuge for homeless men from nearby St Bartholomew's House.