The Necropolis was the first planned cemetery in Glasgow, and marked a new era in hygiene and sanitation. In common with other major Victorian cemeteries, it was designed as a botanic and sculpture garden to improve the morals and tastes of Glaswegians and act as a historical record of past greatness. In 1857 George Blair asked "Who is not made better and wiser by occasional intercourse with the tomb" and he hoped that visitors would be inspired with "a laudable ambition to imitate and emulate" those interred within. This "Dreamlike vision of Attic splendour on the hill by the Cathedral" has had many eminent admirers since its beginnings in 1832. In August 1849, during his visit to the Cathedral with Queen Victoria, Prince Albert "expressed himself delighted" at the sight of the Necropolis. More recently the painter LS Lowry considered it his favourite place in Glasgow. From the top of the Grey Rock, 225 feet above the Clyde, there is a magnificent view of the city and surrounding hills.
Bridge of Sighs 1837
The Necropolis was one of the few cemeteries at that time to keep records of the dead, including profession, ages, sex and cause of death. They reveal an appalling record of infant mortality with measles being a prime killer of the under twenty-fives. Also recorded are the prices paid which varied considerably; for example, "when body in hearse drawn by four horses or carried shoulder high" the cost was one guinea, but single graves, without right of property, for young children cost only 2/6d. The city of the dead was always intended to be non-denominational. It was intended that "Catholics could sleep in a spot associated with the name of the Holy Virgin .... Jews could slumber in a cave, like that of Machpelah in the field of Ephron .... Lutherans could lie among nature .... Quakers could lie in sequestered nooks and strict Presbyterians could obtain graves around the column which proclaims the pure and unswerving principles of John Knox."
On 9th February 1833 the first Christian interment, that of Elizabeth Miles was made - ironically the step mother of George Myles the cemetery superintendent. The first lair sold was that of Laurence Hill in 1835 who had been present at the 1828 meeting that agreed the original proposal and design for the Necropolis. Of the 50,000 interments only about 3,500 have tombs. The majority lie in communal graves. All names, dates, sex, cause of death and professions were recorded and are available in the Mitchell Library. As indicated, the Necropolis is inter-denominational, apart from the Jewish Section since Jewish law requires that Gentiles could not be buried alongside them.
Glasgow Necropolis 1846
Due to obvious sensitivities tombs and monuments in the vicinity of John Knox had to be vetted by Thomas Hamilton and rights to land in the new cemetery could be forfeit if purchasers “failed to dress and ornament their ground and erect their monuments within the stipulated period”. The works involved in the creation of the Necropolis were very extensive, on the brow of the rock many tombs had to be blasted out with dynamite. A night watchman was on duty and stiff fines were imposed on visitors stepping over fences or railings. In 1860 the East and South extensions were added, in 1877 and 1892/3 further lands were acquired in the North and South East – effectively doubling the size of the Necropolis to 37 acres.
Glasgow’s Fire Service and Salvage Corps.
The Necropolis also contains a poignant memorial in commemoration of Glasgow’s Fire Service and Salvage Corps. Those officers who died in service at Cheapside Street in 1960 and at Kilbirnie Street in 1972 are buried on the Grey Rock and are remembered by their colleagues each year in a deeply moving ceremony which is attended by surviving family members, close friends from the community, representatives of the emergency services, elected members and a variety of dignitaries.
The 1960 funeral cortege from Glasgow Cathedral of the officers killed in an explosion at a bonded warehouse on Cheapside Street and Warroch Street.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928),
The name of Charles Rennie Mackintosh has become synonymous with Glasgow. More than just an architect, he was also an outstanding international artist and designer. Born one of eleven children in Glasgow, Mackintosh lived for seventeen years at no. 2 Fir Park Terrace in Dennistoun. This tenement still stands, immediately adjacent to the Necropolis, marked with a plaque from the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society. There can be little doubt about the impact that the ambience of the Necropolis would have had on the mind of an emerging architect. Mackintosh's designs gained in popularity in the decades following his death. His House for an Art Lover was finally built in Glasgow's Bellahouston Park in 1996, and the University of Glasgow rebuilt a terraced house Mackintosh had designed, and furnished it with his and Margaret McDonald's work. The Glasgow School of Art building, now renamed "The Mackintosh Building", is regularly cited by architectural critics as among the very finest buildings in the UK. The Necropolis cemetery features several of his creations and his own headstone is a feature of any trip to the Grey Rock
Recent Times
In 1966 the Merchants House gave the Necropolis to Glasgow Corporation (City Council) and donated £50,000 for its upkeep. Unfortunately the benches and ornate railings have been removed and most areas grassed for maintenance purposes, however the City Council is currently in negotiations with a view to restoring this magnificent cemetery to its previous grandeur.
Despite the ravages of weather and vandalism this "bizarre and architectural Valhalla" maintains its almost surreal atmosphere. The Necropolis still attracts many visitors, not only because the celebration of death is possibly one of the most constant ceremonies ever invented, but architecturally it is a very concise representation of the Victorian preoccupation with historical style and symbols. The predominating Greek and Egyptian styles reflect their general architectural popularity at that time. It is perhaps interesting that despite the alleged religious virtues of those interred, many of the symbols are pagan in origin.
Glasgow Necropolis 1955
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