The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland. It is on a low but very prominent hill to the east of

Glasgow Cathedral Glasgow Cathedral () is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It was the cathedral church of the Archbishop of Glasgow, and the mother church of the Archdiocese of Glasgow and the province of Glasgow, from the 12th ...

(St. Mungo's Cathedral). Fifty thousand individuals have been buried here. Typical for the period, only a small percentage are named on monuments and not every grave has a stone. Approximately 3,500 monuments exist here.

Background

Following the creation of

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...

in Paris a wave of pressure began for cemeteries in Britain. This required a change in the law to allow burial for profit. Previously the parish church held responsibility for burying the dead but there was a growing need for an alternative. Glasgow was one of the first to join this campaign, having a growing population, with fewer and fewer attending church. Led by Lord Provost James Ewing of Strathleven, the planning of the cemetery was started by the Merchants' House of Glasgow in 1831, in anticipation of a change in the law. The Cemeteries Act was passed in 1832 and Glasgow Necropolis officially opened in April 1833. Just before this, in September 1832, a Jewish burial ground had been established in the north-west section of the land. This small area was declared "full" in 1851.

History

Pre-dating the cemetery, the statue of

John Knox John Knox ( – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgate, a street in Haddington, East Lot ...

sitting on a column at the top of the hill, dates from 1825. The first burials were in 1832 in the extreme north-east on the lowest ground and were exclusively for Jewish burials (see section below). Alexander Thomson designed a number of its tombs, and John Bryce and David Hamilton designed other architecture for the grounds. The main entrance is approached by a bridge over what was then the

Molendinar Burn The Molendinar Burn is a small tributary of the Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland, now largely culverted. It is popularly associated with Saint Mungo, who is said to have founded his church on its banks. The name may stem from Mellingdenor, a place m ...

. The bridge, which was designed by David Hamilton was completed in 1836. It became known as the "Bridge of Sighs" because it was part of the route of funeral processions (the name is an allusion to the Bridge of Sighs in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

). The ornate gates (by both David and James Hamilton) were erected in 1838, restricting access onto the bridge. Three modern memorials lie between the gates and the bridge: a memorial to still-born children; a memorial to the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

; and a memorial to Glaswegian recipients of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

. Across the bridge the original scheme was to enter the area via a tunnel but this proved unviable. The ornate entrance of 1836 remains. The cemetery, as most early Victorian cemeteries, is laid out as an informal park, lacking the formal grid layouts of later cemeteries. This layout is further enhanced by the complex topography. The cemetery's paths meander uphill towards the summit, where many of the larger monuments stand, clustered around the

Monument. The Glasgow Necropolis was described by James Stevens Curl as "literally a city of the dead". Glasgow native Billy Connolly has said: "Glasgow's a bit like

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

: it doesn't care much for the living, but it really looks after the dead."

Volunteers

The Friends of Glasgow Necropolis is a charity whose aim is to maintain and restore the site. It was founded in 2005. , it has 140 volunteer members and has raised over £100,000 to support its goals. The organisation also runs private tours for visitors to the necropolis.

Notable statues and sculptures

Lords Provosts in the Necropolis

* Peter Clouston * William Collins * Sir Thomas Dunlop, 1st Baronet * James Ewing of Strathleven * Sir William McOnie * Sir David Mason * Matthew Walker Montgomery * Henry Monteith * Sir Andrew Orr * Sir David Richmond

Other burials of note

* Alexander Allan, ship owner * Katherine McCall Anderson, nurse * Thomas McCall Anderson, Doctor * William Burns, historian * Hector Clare Cameron * Peter Clouston * Charles Connell, shipbuilder * Very Rev James Craik, moderator for 1863/4 * Thomas Kennedy Dalziel, discovered Crohn's disease * William Doleman, golfer * John Gibb Dunlop, engineer * Nathaniel Dunlop * John Elder, shipbuilder, and his philanthropist wife Isabella Elder * John Graham Gilbert, artist * John Honeyman, architect * John Inglis, shipbuilder *

James Jeffray James Jeffray (1759–1848) was a Scottish academic. He was professor of anatomy and botany at the University of Glasgow from 1790 until 1848. This 58 years of professorship is one of the longest in Scottish history. In around 1830 he is cred ...

, anatomist * William Keddie, founder of the Scottish Sunday School system * William Logan, temperance campaigner * David MacBrayne * James McCall, veterinary surgeon * Rev James Duff MacCulloch * Sir James MacFarlane (1857–1944), of MacFarlane Lang Biscuits * John Macgregor, shipbuilder * David Prince Miller, magician and theatre owner * William Miller, poet * George Arthur Mitchell, mining engineer * William Rae, firefighter * Sir James Roberton * Alexander Stephen, shipbuilder * Peter Stewart, engineer – subject of a bronze sculpture by James Pittendrigh Macgillivray * John Strang, writer * John Templeton and James Stewart Templeton, each of James Templeton & Co carpet makers (the latter grave was originally coloured to look like a carpet) * Charles S. P. Tennent and his brother Hugh Tennent and son Hugh Tennent all of Wellpark Brewery (the graves face the brewery) * William Thomson, Lord Kelvin * Rev Ralph Wardlaw * James George Wilson

War graves

Glasgow Necropolis holds graves of 19 Commonwealth service personnel, 15 from

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and 4 from

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, that are registered and maintained by the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

. The first, and highest ranking, of those buried here is Lieutenant-General Sir James Moncrieff Grierson, who died in August 1914 in France and whose body was repatriated. His grave is in section Primus 38.

Jewish section

As Jewish people were not allowed to be interred within Christian burial grounds, a small area outwith the boundary of the main cathedral graveyard was allocated to them. The ground contains 57 burials. Jewish burials took place here from 1832 to 1855, after which they were in the Eastern Necropolis. The cemetery is now part of the expanded Necropolis and due to its low location its significance is often unrecognised. The Jewish cemetery was restored in 2015.

Other memorials

* Cheapside Street whisky bond fire *

William Wallace Sir William Wallace (, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army at the Battle of St ...

memorialWilliam Wallace memorial
- Canmore.org.uk

References

External links

Glasgow Necropolis Photographs

Glasgow Necropolis Heritage Trail
PDF
Friends of Glasgow Necropolis

Video footage of the Lady Well
* {{Cemeteries in Scotland Cemeteries in Scotland Buildings and structures in Glasgow Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Category A listed buildings in Glasgow Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Scotland Monumental masons Tourist attractions in Glasgow 1832 establishments in Scotland Necropoleis