Bryophytes and Buildings: Buccleuch Parish Church


Home Introduction Buildings Bryophytes Community References Credits

Buccleuch Parish Church

	Buccleuch Parish Church and Burial Ground Around 1755, the burial grounds of St Cuthbert's Parish Church, which is located at the West End in Lothian Road, had become so overcrowded that the Kirk session decided to open a new burial ground to the south of the city. This church and a small churchyard were built in 1755-1756 at the junction of Chapel Street with Buccleuch Street in the Southside. The church was earlier known as St Cuthbert's Chapel of Ease from which Chapel Street probably took its name.
The Windmill This new site was outside the city walls and originally contained a large windmill which used to raise water from the Borough Loch at the Meadows. The water was use by the "Brewers of Society", an old established brewing company There is now no trace left of the windmill but we still have the name of nearby "Windmill Street" to remind us of it's earlier existence.
	David MacGibbon, Architect The church was reconstructed by the architect, David MacGibbon, in 1866. At this time it was given a spired turret which can still be seen today. The building is no longer a consecrated church and the burial ground is in the care of the City of Edinburgh Council.
A Monumental Move In the early 1900's the church Kirk-session decided a hall was needed and, finding that it was legal to build over the graves in the cemetery, they erected a large building to the north of the church and occupying most of the burial ground except for the strip round the boundary walls. The monuments present on the site were carefully removed and the more important ones placed against the north wall of the church.
	The Skating Incident At the turn of the 20th century a roller skating craze swept through Britain and Edinburgh, not to be left out, followed the trend. The church hall was subsequently hired out as a roller skating rink but this soon resulted in a public outcry about people skating over the graves of the dead and accusations of sacrilege. As a result of this outcry and the appearance of several letters of protest in the local newspaper, the contract with the skating company was quickly terminated.
Dr Andrew Duncan (1744-1828) Of the many famous and at least one infamous (Deacon Brodie) persons buried in the cemetry, mention must be made of the noted physician Andrew Duncan who was instrumental in the founding of the first public dispensary in Edinburgh and lies buried against the east wall of the Buccleuch Burial Ground. He also advocated a public lunatic asylum for the city and this was eventually built and granted a royal charter in 1807 Dr Duncan was granted the freedom of the city in 1808 for his public services in founding the Royal Dispensary and Royal Asylum
	Matter from Mucus Dr Duncan was also a man of great generosity and allowed the remains of some of his friends and students to be interned in his burial ground. The picture shown here is of a memorial tablet for a Charles Darwin who died a a very young age and who an award for a criterion to distinguish matter form mucus. This was not the same Charles Darwin who wrote "The Origin of Species" .and also attended Edinburgh University from 1825 to 1827 to study medicine.
Mrs Alison Rutherford of Cockburn (1713-94) Another notable buried in the graveyard is "Mrs Cockburn". This 18th Century letter writer and society lady is remembered as the author of the lyrics of the song, "Flowers of the Forest". A commemorative plaque can be seen located above the street sign in Chapel Street . Her burial place is within the cemetery, almost directly behind this sign .