Warriston Cemetery
Encyclopedia
Warriston Cemetery lies in Warriston
, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh
, Scotland
. It was built by the then newly formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and occupies around 14 acres (5.7 ha) of land on a slightly sloping site. It contains many tens of thousand graves, including several notable Victorian and Edwardian figures, the most eminent being the physician Sir James Young Simpson
.
It is located on the north side of the Water of Leith
, and has an impressive landscape; partly planned, partly unplanned due to recent neglect. Of note are a number of Guernsey Elm
s. It lies in the Inverleith
Conservation Area
and is also a designated Local Nature Conservation Site. The cemetery is protected as a Category A listed building.
in London. Designed elements include a neo-Tudor line of catacombs
. Their length was doubled in 1862 by architect John Dick Peddie
.
Soon after instigation, in 1845 the cemetery was divided by the Edinburgh and Leith Railway
which was built east to west through its southern half. A tunnel was added, with Gothic archways at its mouths, to link the north and south sections, but the south being smaller, was the inferior area from this date onwards. The embankments of the railway have been partly removed following its closure in the 1950s, and the line is now a public walkway.
In 1929 the Edinburgh Cemetery Company expanded their business into the new field of cremation, building Warriston Crematorium on an adjacent site to the east. The cemetery lodge to the north-west dates from 1931 and was designed by architect J.R.McKay. The cemetery was in private ownership until 1994, when it was compulsorily purchased by the City of Edinburgh Council. The long task of restoring the heavily overgrown and vandalised cemetery has begun, but still has far to go.
General Manson of the Bombay Artillery. The white marble shrine contained a sculpture of a reclining female figure, and was topped by a red glass roof, leading to the local nickname, the Tomb of the Red Lady. The monument was heavily vandalised and had to be demolished in the late 1980s. A sizeable arched pedestal to the Rev. James Peddie (d.1845) by John Dick Peddie is also of note.
Warriston
Warriston is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is north-east of the Royal Botanic Garden. The name derives from Warriston House a local mansion house, now demolished....
, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It was built by the then newly formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and occupies around 14 acres (5.7 ha) of land on a slightly sloping site. It contains many tens of thousand graves, including several notable Victorian and Edwardian figures, the most eminent being the physician Sir James Young Simpson
James Young Simpson
Sir James Young Simpson was a Scottish doctor and an important figure in the history of medicine. Simpson discovered the anaesthetic properties of chloroform and successfully introduced it for general medical use....
.
It is located on the north side of the Water of Leith
Water of Leith
The Water of Leith is the main river flowing through Edinburgh, Scotland, to the port of Leith where it flows into the sea via the Firth of Forth.It is long and rises in the Colzium Springs at Millstone Rig of the Pentland Hills...
, and has an impressive landscape; partly planned, partly unplanned due to recent neglect. Of note are a number of Guernsey Elm
Guernsey Elm
Ulmus minor subsp. sarniensis Stace , known variously as Guernsey Elm, Jersey Elm, Wheatley Elm, or Southampton Elm, once enjoyed much popularity in Britain, where it was widely cultivated for street planting...
s. It lies in the Inverleith
Inverleith
Inverleith is an inner suburb in the northern part of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the fringes of the central region of the city. It is an affluent suburb. Its neighbours include Trinity to the north and the New Town to the south, with Canonmills at the south-east and Stockbridge at the south-west...
Conservation Area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
and is also a designated Local Nature Conservation Site. The cemetery is protected as a Category A listed building.
History
Designed in 1842 by Edinburgh architect David Cousin, the cemetery opened in 1843, and provided a model for several other Scottish cemeteries. In its own right it was broadly based on ideas first introduced at Kensal Green CemeteryKensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in Kensal Green, in the west of London, England. It was immortalised in the lines of G. K. Chesterton's poem The Rolling English Road from his book The Flying Inn: "For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen; Before we go to Paradise by way of...
in London. Designed elements include a neo-Tudor line of catacombs
Catacombs
Catacombs, human-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place can be described as a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman empire...
. Their length was doubled in 1862 by architect John Dick Peddie
John Dick Peddie
John Dick Peddie was a Scottish architect, businessman and a Liberal Party politician.-Biography:John Dick Peddie and his twin brother William were the second and third sons of James Peddie WS and Margaret Dick...
.
Soon after instigation, in 1845 the cemetery was divided by the Edinburgh and Leith Railway
Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway
The Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway, which later became the Edinburgh, Leith and Granton Railway, was a railway in Edinburgh. It carried passengers and freight between the city centre and the northern ports. It was Edinburgh's second railway, after the Duke of Buccleuch's Edinburgh and...
which was built east to west through its southern half. A tunnel was added, with Gothic archways at its mouths, to link the north and south sections, but the south being smaller, was the inferior area from this date onwards. The embankments of the railway have been partly removed following its closure in the 1950s, and the line is now a public walkway.
In 1929 the Edinburgh Cemetery Company expanded their business into the new field of cremation, building Warriston Crematorium on an adjacent site to the east. The cemetery lodge to the north-west dates from 1931 and was designed by architect J.R.McKay. The cemetery was in private ownership until 1994, when it was compulsorily purchased by the City of Edinburgh Council. The long task of restoring the heavily overgrown and vandalised cemetery has begun, but still has far to go.
Monuments of architectural note
The Robertson mortuary chapel was erected in 1865 for Mary Ann Robertson (1826–58), daughter of Brigadier-General Manson of the Bombay Artillery. The white marble shrine contained a sculpture of a reclining female figure, and was topped by a red glass roof, leading to the local nickname, the Tomb of the Red Lady. The monument was heavily vandalised and had to be demolished in the late 1980s. A sizeable arched pedestal to the Rev. James Peddie (d.1845) by John Dick Peddie is also of note.
Interred
- Hippolyte BlancHippolyte BlancHippolyte Jean Blanc was a Scottish architect. Best known for his church buildings in the Gothic revival style, Blanc was also a keen antiquarian who oversaw meticulously researched restoration projects.-Early life:...
(1844–1917), architect - Sir John James BurnetJohn James BurnetSir John James Burnet was a Scottish Edwardian architect who was noted for a number of prominent buildings in Glasgow, Scotland and London, England...
(1857–1938), architect - Sir David DeasDavid DeasSir David Deas was a Scottish medical officer in the Royal Navy.Deas, son of Francis Deas, provost of Falkland, Fife, who died in 1857, by his marriage with Margaret, daughter of David Moyes, was born at Falkland in September 1807, educated at the high school and University of Edinburgh, and...
(1807–1876), naval physician - Robert GibbRobert GibbRobert Gibb RSA was a Scottish painter who was Keeper of the National Gallery of Scotland from 1895 to 1907 and was Painter and Limner to the King from 1908 until his death...
(1845–1932), artist, most remembered for the painting The Thin Red Line - Professor Robert JamesonRobert Jamesonthumb|Robert JamesonProfessor Robert Jameson, FRS FRSE was a Scottish naturalist and mineralogist.As Regius Professor at the University of Edinburgh for fifty years, Jameson is notable for his advanced scholarship in natural history, his superb museum collection, and for his tuition of Charles...
(1774–1854), naturalist and mineralogist - Feliks JaniewiczFeliks JaniewiczFeliks Janiewicz, in English often Felix Yaniewicz was a Polish composer and violinist in exile and one of the founders of the Edinburgh Festival.He was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, 1762...
(1762-1848), Polish composer and violinist in exile - Alexander Keiller (1811-1892), physician and obstetrician; introduced gynaecological teaching into the Edinburgh Medical School
- Philip KellandPhilip KellandPhilip Kelland PRSE FRS was an English mathematician. He was known mainly for his great influence on the development of education in Scotland.-Early life:Kelland was born in 1808 in Dunster, Somerset, England...
(1808-1879), English mathematician - Count Walerian KrasińskiWalerian KrasińskiCount Walerian Skorobohaty Krasiński or Valerian Krasinski was a Polish Calvinist politician, nationalist and historian.Krasinski was a Polish aristocrat in exile after the November Uprising 1830, during the Austrian, German and Russian partition of Poland. In 1844 he was proposed for a chair in...
(1795-1855), Polish Calvinist politician, nationalist and historian - Robert Scott LauderRobert Scott LauderRobert Scott Lauder was a Scottish mid-Victorian artist who described himself as a "historical painter". He was one of the original members of the Royal Scottish Academy.-Life and work:...
(1803–1869), artist (monument by John Hutchison) - Professor David Low (1786–1859), agriculturalist
- Horatio McCullochHoratio McCullochHoratio McCulloch , sometimes written M'Culloch, was a Scottish landscape painter.-Life:...
(1806–1867), artist (monument by John Rhind) - Duncan McNeill, 1st Baron Colonsay and Oronsay (1793-1874), advocate and Tory politician; Lord Justice General and Lord President of the Court of SessionLord President of the Court of SessionThe Lord President of the Court of Session is head of the judiciary in Scotland, and presiding judge of the College of Justice and Court of Session, as well as being Lord Justice General of Scotland and head of the High Court of Justiciary, the offices having been combined in 1836...
(1852-1867) - John Menzies (1808–1879), founder of the national newsagent chain bearing his name
- William Nicol (1770–1851), physicist and geologist
- Sir William Peck (1862–1925), astronomer
- Alexander Peddie (1810-1907), physician and author
- James Pringle (1822-1886), businessman and Provost of Leith (1881-6)
- Alexander RamsayAlexander Ramsay (architect)Alexander Ramsay was a Scottish builder and architect, born in Edinburgh. He rebuilt Craigend Castle, near Milngavie, for James Smith of Craigend, in a Gothic revival style. Craigend was built on land that Smith's father had purchased from the Duke of Montrose, and which formerly formed part of...
(1777–1847), architect - Harold RaeburnHarold RaeburnHarold Andrew Raeburn was a Scottish mountaineer.-Life:Raeburn was born in 1865 at 12 Grange Loan, Edinburgh. His father William Raeburn, a brewer, married Jessie Ramsay in 1849...
(1865–1926), mountaineer - John RhindJohn Rhind (sculptor)John Rhind ARSA was a Scottish sculptor, based in Edinburgh. He was trained under AH Ritchie.He was the father of the sculptors William Birnie Rhind and J...
(1828–1892), sculptor - William Robertson (1818-1882), physician and statistician
- John SiverightJohn SiverightJohn Siveright was a fur trader and later became Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company. Born December 2, 1779 in Drumdelgy, Cairnie, Scotland he was the son of John Siveright and Jannet Glass....
(1779–1856), of the Hudson's Bay Company - Sir James Young SimpsonJames Young SimpsonSir James Young Simpson was a Scottish doctor and an important figure in the history of medicine. Simpson discovered the anaesthetic properties of chloroform and successfully introduced it for general medical use....
(1811–1870), pioneer of anaesthetics - Sir John StruthersJohn Struthers (anatomist)Sir John Struthers, LRCSE, MD, LLD, FRCSE, FRSE was Professor of Anatomy at the University of Aberdeen....
(1823-1899), surgeon and anatomist - Thomas Jameson Torrie (d. 1858), advocate, geologist, mineralogist and botanist
- William WilliamsWilliam Williams (veterinarian)William Williams FRSE PRCVS was a Welsh veterinary surgeon who served as principal of the Dick Veterinary College in Edinburgh and as president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons . He was the founder and principal of the New Veterinary College, in Gayfield Square , Edinburgh...
(1832-1900), Welsh veterinary surgeon
Cremated
- Sir Charles Laing WarrCharles Laing WarrCharles Laing Warr GCVO was a Church of Scotland minister and author in the 20th century.Warr was born into an ecclesiastical family on 24 July 1892 and educated at Glasgow Academy and the University of Edinburgh. He was commissioned into the 9th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1914 and...
(1892-1969), Minister of The High Church of St Giles, Edinburgh, and Dean of the Thistle and Chapel Royal Scotland (1926-69) - Alfred AdlerAlfred AdlerAlfred Adler was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. In collaboration with Sigmund Freud and a small group of Freud's colleagues, Adler was among the co-founders of the psychoanalytic movement as a core member of the Vienna...
(1870-1937), Austrian psychotherapist and founder of the school of individual psychology. Moved 2011-04 to Austria