Dean Cemetery

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The Lords Row, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh The 'Lords' Row', Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh.JPG
The Lords Row, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh
Autumn in Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh Autumn in Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh.jpg
Autumn in Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh
The huge Buchanan Memorial, Dean Cemetery Buchanan Memorial, Dean Cemetery.JPG
The huge Buchanan Memorial, Dean Cemetery
The south-west section of Dean Cemetery The south-west section of Dean Cemetery.JPG
The south-west section of Dean Cemetery
George Frampton figure, Dean Cemetery George Frampton figure, Dean Cemetery.jpg
George Frampton figure, Dean Cemetery
The large and ornate monument to James Leishman, Dean Cemetery The large and ornate monument to James Leishman, Dean Cemetery.jpg
The large and ornate monument to James Leishman, Dean Cemetery
The gothic masterpiece to David Jeffrey (1817-1905), Dean Cemetery The gothic masterpiece to David Jeffrey (1817-1905), Dean Cemetery.jpg
The gothic masterpiece to David Jeffrey (18171905), Dean Cemetery

The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on its west by the Dean Gallery. A 20th-century extension lies detached from the main cemetery to the north of Ravelston Terrace. The main cemetery is accessible through the main gate on its east side, through a "grace and favour" access door from the grounds of Dean Gallery and from Ravelston Terrace. The modern extension is only accessible at the junction of Dean Path and Queensferry Road.

Contents

The cemetery

Dean Cemetery, originally known as Edinburgh Western Cemetery, [1] was laid out by David Cousin (an Edinburgh architect who also laid out Warriston Cemetery) in 1846 and was a fashionable burial ground for mainly the middle and upper-classes. The many monuments bear witness to Scottish achievement in peace and war, at home and abroad and are a rich source of Edinburgh and Victorian history.

As the cemetery plots were quickly bought up the cemetery was extended on its north side in 1871. [2] A second set of entrance gates were built on Dean Path, matching the original entrance. Although this section was originally only accessed through this gate the extension was quickly linked to the original section by creating gaps in the mutual wall where no graves existed.

The separated section north of Ravelston Terrace (previously Edgehill Nursery [3] ) was purchased in 1877 in anticipation of a sales rate matching that of the original cemetery, but this was not to be, and the area only began to be used in 1909 (excepting John Ritchie Findlay (1898) alone for a decade). This section is relatively plain and generally unremarkable, but does include a line of Scottish judges against the north wall, perhaps trying to echo the "Lord's Row" against the west wall of the original cemetery. Whilst numerically greater in its number of lords it is far less eye-catching.

The entire cemetery is privately owned by the Dean Cemetery Trust Limited, making it one of the few cemeteries still run as it was intended to be run. The resultant layout, with its mature designed landscape, can be seen as an excellent example of a cemetery actually being visible in the form it was conceived to be seen.

The southern access from Belford Road is now blocked and the entrance road here is now grassed and used for the interment of ashes.

The cemetery contains sculpture by Sir John Steell, William Brodie, John Hutchison, Francis John Williamson, Pilkington Jackson, Amelia Robertson Hill, William Birnie Rhind, John Rhind, John Stevenson Rhind, William Grant Stevenson, Henry Snell Gamley, Charles McBride, George Frampton, Walter Hubert Paton and Stewart McGlashan.

Dean House

Stone carving from Dean House, now part of retaining wall in Dean Cemetery Stone carving from Dean House 01.jpg
Stone carving from Dean House, now part of retaining wall in Dean Cemetery

The cemetery stands on the site of Dean House (built 1614), part of Dean Estate which had been purchased in 1609 by Sir William Nisbet, who became in 1616 Lord Provost of Edinburgh. The Nisbets of Dean held the office of Hereditary Poulterer to the King. The famous herald, Alexander Nisbet, of Nisbet House, near Duns, Scottish Borders, Berwickshire, is said to have written his Systems of Heraldry in Dean House. The estate house was demolished in 1845, and sculptured stones from it are incorporated into the south retaining wall supporting at the south side of the cemetery. This lower, hidden section also contains graves.

John Swinton, Lord Swinton died in the house in 1799. Sir John Stuart Hepburn Forbes was born in Dean House in 1804. [4]

Notable interments

Bust of artist and photography pioneer David Octavius Hill, sculpted by his second wife Bust of David Octavius Hill, Dean Cemetery Edinburgh.jpg
Bust of artist and photography pioneer David Octavius Hill, sculpted by his second wife
Relief on the gravestone of Lt. John Irving, who died on the Franklin Expedition Relief on the gravestone of Lieutenant John Irving, R.N., Dean Cemetery Edinburgh.jpg
Relief on the gravestone of Lt. John Irving, who died on the Franklin Expedition
Grave of Arctic explorer and surgeon, Robert Anstruther Goodsir M.D. who joined the search for the Franklin Expedition Grave of Robert Anstruther Goodsir M.D., Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh.JPG
Grave of Arctic explorer and surgeon, Robert Anstruther Goodsir M.D. who joined the search for the Franklin Expedition
Internal section to NW, Dean Cemetery Internal section to NW, Dean Cemetery.jpg
Internal section to NW, Dean Cemetery

Original cemetery

"N" denotes location in the first northern extension. "LR" denotes location in the Lords Row.

Will Thomson, Dean Cemetery extension -11WillThomson.png
Will Thomson, Dean Cemetery extension
Aeneas Francon Williams and Clara Anne Rendall, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh Aeneas Francon Williams and Clara Anne Rendall, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh.jpg
Aeneas Francon Williams and Clara Anne Rendall, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh

Southern Terrace

Dean Cemetery, south terrace Dean Cemetery, south terrace.jpg
Dean Cemetery, south terrace
The grave of Lt Col Walter Hamilton Tyndall Bruce, south terrace, Dean Cemetery The grave of Lt Col Walter Hamilton Tyndall Bruce, south terrace, Dean Cemetery.jpg
The grave of Lt Col Walter Hamilton Tyndall Bruce, south terrace, Dean Cemetery

20th century extension

Monument to Elizabeth Dunlop Barclay by Henry Snell Gamley (1923) Monument to Elizabeth Dunlop Barclay by Henry Snell Gamley (1923).jpg
Monument to Elizabeth Dunlop Barclay by Henry Snell Gamley (1923)

Other monuments of interest

Colonel Smith's Monument Col. Robert A Smith Memorial, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh.JPG
Colonel Smith's Monument

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References

  1. 1 2 "Cemetery Details". CWGC.org. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  2. Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh by Gifford McWilliam and Walker
  3. Ordnance Survey 1851 : Edinburgh
  4. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. 2006. ISBN   090219884X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  5. "Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh" (PDF). Royalsoc.ed.org.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  6. "The Scott Monument" (PDF). Orapweb.rcahms.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  7. Helen Dingwall. "A pioneering history: dentistry and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh" (PDF). Historyofdentistry.co.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  8. "Cemetery Details". CWGC.org. Retrieved 7 January 2016.

Bibliography

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