Cemetery · Scotland · Still standing

Greyfriars Kirkyard

Cladh Eaglais nam Manach Liath

Greyfriars Kirkyard is the historic graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk on the southern edge of Edinburgh's Old Town. It is a densely packed, walled burial ground containing vaulted lairs, mural monuments, and several named tombs and memorials dating from the 17th and 18th centuries.

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Photograph via Wikimedia Commons

Its prime

1700

Today

Still standing

As it stood in 1700

What Greyfriars Kirkyard looked like in its prime.

A compact, walled urban kirkyard on a steep Old Town slope, paved and gravel paths threading between tight rows of upright gravestones and low, stone-vaulted lairs. Dominant materials are dark grey-brown sandstone ashlar, carved stone monuments and classical ashlar mausolea; many surfaces show lichen and weathering in later photographs but at the prime the carving edges were crisp. Iron railings and small cast-iron mortsafes protect some vaults; the walled boundary and neighbouring school wall form strong vertical backdrops.

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9 places to explore in 1700.

The record describes 9 distinct spots at Greyfriars Kirkyard, including 1 interior: sir george mackenzie’s tomb — lower vault interior. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more photos, more angles and more of the immersive experience.

Main south gate / approach from Candlemaker RowNorth burial yard — east wall of mural monumentsCovenanters' Prison strip (south-west vaults)Martyr's Monument (exterior)Sir George Mackenzie’s domed tomb (Black Mausoleum) — exteriorSir George Mackenzie’s tomb — lower vault interiorSouth edge enclosed burial lairsJohn Byres of Coates monument (1629)Mortsafes beside recent graves

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