G is for Glasgow Necropolis

/ Pamela J

Welcome to the A to Z challenge, a blog post everyday of April apart from Sundays, covering every letter of the alphabet. My theme is travel, that thing that we haven’t been able to do over the last 12 months, so it seemed appropriate to reminisce about past travels we’ve taken, looking forward to when we can travel freely again.

Those who know me well won’t be at all surprised that I’ve managed to sneak a graveyard in as a travel destination – believe me, we have travelled far and wide just to visit graveyards.

In the 1830’s a grand cemetery was created on a hill in Glasgow to be reminiscent of Pere La Chaise cemetery in Paris. This city of the dead, or necropolis, was to be multidenominational and the first person buried in this new graveyard in 1832 was a Jewish man. You can read more about the site on the Friends of Glasgow Necropolis website.

Throughout the cemetery there are some beautifully carved Celtic crosses, and lots of exquisite architecture used to remember some of the 50,000 residents buried within this necropolis.

The one famous person we stumbled across was this monument to William Miller who wrote the nursery rhyme Wee Willie Winkie. I initially thought it was his grave, but after a bit of research I discovered that when he died he was destitute and buried in the family plot in Tolcross cemetery without a marker. This memorial was erected with public money.

The cemetery covers 37 acres and these are three of the bigger mausoleums on the site and it always amazes me how much effort is put into showing wealth after death – when it comes down to it, rich or poor, we all end up the same way.

I loved this angel, and it was beautiful with its pink flower that someone has given it. At her base it says “We shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye”.

I love how some parts of the cemetery have been left for nature to take over, and like many other Victorian era graveyards, this one is known for its wildlife and wild flowers.

I’ve restrained myself and only mentioned this one graveyard, when I could’ve gone totally wild and shared some of the other wonderful places we’ve visited over the years. If you ever see an over excited Australian in a graveyard with a long suffering Scottish husband trailing behind, then it’s probably me and my beloved.

Thanks for stopping by and make sure you visit other bloggers who are crazy enough to be doing the challenge with me – Click Here to visit the master list of participants.

Stay safe and have a great day.

Previous A to Z posts:

2018 – G is for Glamping

2017 – G is for Golspie

2016 – G is for Graveyards

10 thoughts on “G is for Glasgow Necropolis”

  1. If I had to describe you, I would certainly mention graveyards, cats and cake 🙂
    I have to admit though this one looks very “nice” if that’s an appropriate word for a cemetery. The angel statue is certainly right by saying “We shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye”. It will happen.

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  3. Graveyards are fascinating places to visit. I’ve visited a few in my travels too. On my first trip to Paris my friend insisted we go to Père Lachaise to see Jim Morrison’s grave. The headstone was covered in graffiti which was a little sad although that was back in 1985 so it may be different now. Weekends In Maine

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