Greyfriars Burial Ground | |
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Details | |
Established | 1580 |
Closed | 1978 |
Location | Canal Street Perth |
Country | Scotland |
Coordinates | 56°23′37″N3°25′38″W / 56.39367°N 3.42718°W |
Owned by | Perth and Kinross Council |
Find a Grave | Greyfriars Burial Ground |
Greyfriars Burial Ground is an historic cemetery in Perth, Scotland. Dating to 1580, it is now Category A listed, [1] with its collection of gravestones considered one of the best in Scotland. [2] [3] The cemetery closed to burials in 1978.
The cemetery occupies the former location of the Greyfriars Monastery, founded by Laurence Oliphant, 1st Lord Oliphant, in 1496 and destroyed in 1559 at the start of the Scottish Reformation. [4]
As per documentation dating to 1911, "no burial is permitted of the body of a person who at the time of death resided out of the old parish, excepting that of a widower or widow, son or daughter who have never been married." A superintendent was in attendance every morning between 10 and 11 AM, then between 11 AM and 1 PM at Wellshill Cemetery. [5]
The cemetery is located at the eastern end of Canal Street, near its junction with Tay Street. It has been extended south on two occasions, [6] and it now abuts the bridge carrying the Perth-to-Dundee section of the Scottish railway network.
Also on the southern side of the cemetery is a roofed section under which are thirteen early gravestones. Moved for conservation purposes, they include the oldest gravestone in the cemetery (Buchan, 1580).
A tablet commemorating John Mylne, who "rebuilt the ancient bridge over the River Tay," was erected by Robert Mylne in 1784. [6]
In 1997, when proposals were made to dismantle and rebuild the cemetery's eastern wall, two test pits were dug by the Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust (SUAT). One of the pits found what is believed to be the original monastery wall foundations. A "succession of wall foundations" hinted at several wall replacement and repair efforts undertaken during the monastery's lifespan, each raising the ground level. Medieval pottery was also discovered, likely associated with the soil of lower garden abutting the original monastery wall. The other pit demonstrated a lack of a progression of wall foundations, confirming that that area was inside the 1795 graveyard extension and outside the original monastery grounds. The second pit also showed signs of infilling or levelling layers, possibly from when a burn, which ran along the burial ground's southern wall, was covered with soil. [6]
In 2019, several headstones deemed a hazard to passersby were removed and restored. [2]
Perth and Kinross Council have left the grass outwith the paths around the graveyard to grow as a biodiversity plan. [7]
Perth is a centrally located Scottish city, on the banks of the River Tay. It is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and is the historic county town of Perthshire. It had a population of about 47,430 in 2018.
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John Mylne of Perth was a Scottish master mason who served as Master Mason to the Crown of Scotland. He was born in Perth, the son of John Mylne, also a master mason, and Helen Kenneries.
John Mylne was a Scottish master mason, the first of three successive generations of the name to serve as Master Mason to the Crown of Scotland. He was born in Dundee into a family of master builders. His great-grandfather, also John, had been Master Mason to both James III and James IV. He was the son of Thomas Mylne, Master Mason to the Crown and burgess of Dundee. His grandfather may have been Robert Mylne former provost of Dundee.
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St John's Kirk is a church in the Scottish city of Perth, Perth and Kinross. Of Church of Scotland denomination, it is located in St John's Place, just southeast of the city centre. It stands on the former site of a church dating to 1126. Today's structure, built around 1448, is a Category A listed building. The church is most noted for being the site of John Knox's 1559 sermon against idolatry, which began the Scottish Reformation.
The vennels of Perth are a collection of small medieval streets in the city of Perth, Scotland. Similar to York's Snickelways, vennels are a public right-of-way passageway between the gables of buildings which can, in effect, be a minor street. In Scotland, the term originated in royal burghs created in the twelfth century, the word deriving from the Old French word venelle meaning "alley" or "lane". Unlike a tenement entry to private property, known as a "close", a vennel was a public way leading from a typical high street to the open ground beyond the burgage plots. The Latin form is venella, related to the English word "funnel".
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Kinnoull Parish Church is a Church of Scotland church in the Kinnoull area of Perth, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. A Kinnoull Church appears in documents when it was granted to Cambuskenneth Abbey in 1361. It was rebuilt in 1779 but demolished in 1826 after the completion of a church on the Perth side of the River Tay, which flows a short distance behind the church.
The Observant Order of Greyfriars was a friary of the Franciscan Order located in the Scottish city of Perth. It was founded by Laurence Oliphant, 1st Lord Oliphant, in 1496 and destroyed on 11 May 1559 following the Scottish Reformation, started by John Knox in his sermon at Perth's St John's Kirk, just a few hundred yards to the north.
The Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust Ltd. is an archaeological company. It was formed in 1982, replacing the Urban Archaeology Unit, itself established four years earlier. Based in Perth, Scotland, the Trust operates the monitoring and excavation of redevelopment in Scotland's medieval burghs.
South Street is a prominent street in the Scottish city of Perth, Perth and Kinross. Established in at least the 15th century, it runs for about 0.5 miles (0.80 km), from the Dundee Road in the east to County Place in the west, passing through the entire breadth of the city. Queen's Bridge, completed in 1960 and opened by Queen Elizabeth II, carries South Street across the River Tay to and from Kinnoull.
St John the Baptist Church is located in Perth, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Of Scottish Episcopalian denomination, it is located on Princes Street, at its junction with Canal Street, in the southeastern corner of the city centre. It adjoins the Greyfriars Burial Ground on its western side. Completed in 1851, it is now a Category B listed building. The church's architects were John Hay, William Hardie Hay and James Murdoch Hay, three brothers from Liverpool.
1–3 South Street is an historic building in Perth, Scotland. Designed by local architect David Smart, the building is Category B listed, dating to 1866. Standing on South Street, with its eastern facade facing Tay Street, the building was originally the home of the River Tay Purification Board.