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.
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 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.
Prof
Sir Henry Duncan Littlejohn (1826–1914), public health promoter, forensic science pioneer, plus his son,
Henry Harvey Littlejohn (1862–1927), forensic scientist, Edinburgh's first Police Surgeon.
Aeneas Francon Williams (1886–1971) Church of Scotland Minister, Missionary, Chaplain, Writer and Poet, and his wife
Clara Anne Rendall, missionary, teacher and artist.
Monument to
John Wilson (1800–1849), vocalist (buried in Quebec), also subject of a memorial at the foot of
Calton Hill
The Cemetery contains the war graves of 39 Commonwealth service personnel, 29 from World War I and 10 from World War II, registered and maintained by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.[1] The oldest soldier buried is Major-General Sir John Munro Sym KCB (1839–1919) aged 80 (this is a normal grave not a CWGC grave).[8] Most of the war graves lie in the independently accessed 20th century section to the north of the main cemetery.
Robert Digby-JonesVC is memorialised on his parents' grave in the north extension.
Monument to the orphans dying at the immediately adjacent
Dean Orphanage
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.
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 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.
Prof
Sir Henry Duncan Littlejohn (1826–1914), public health promoter, forensic science pioneer, plus his son,
Henry Harvey Littlejohn (1862–1927), forensic scientist, Edinburgh's first Police Surgeon.
Aeneas Francon Williams (1886–1971) Church of Scotland Minister, Missionary, Chaplain, Writer and Poet, and his wife
Clara Anne Rendall, missionary, teacher and artist.
Monument to
John Wilson (1800–1849), vocalist (buried in Quebec), also subject of a memorial at the foot of
Calton Hill
The Cemetery contains the war graves of 39 Commonwealth service personnel, 29 from World War I and 10 from World War II, registered and maintained by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.[1] The oldest soldier buried is Major-General Sir John Munro Sym KCB (1839–1919) aged 80 (this is a normal grave not a CWGC grave).[8] Most of the war graves lie in the independently accessed 20th century section to the north of the main cemetery.
Robert Digby-JonesVC is memorialised on his parents' grave in the north extension.
Monument to the orphans dying at the immediately adjacent
Dean Orphanage