A burial vault at East Preston Street Burial Ground, Edinburgh

East Preston Street Burial Ground in 1845

East Preston Street Burial Ground is a burial ground in south

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

holding graves from the 19th and 20th century. The graveyard is in the care of the City of Edinburgh Council. It stands at the junction of East Preston Street and Dalkeith Road. The property is a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

It was created in 1820 in the parish of St Cuthbert's, who had an overflow Chapel of Ease on Buccleuch Street, with its own graveyard. The additional burial ground was organised by the kirk session. It was originally called Newington Burial Ground but was renamed "East Preston Street" in 1848 on the opening of

Newington Cemetery Newington Cemetery is a cemetery in Edinburgh, Scotland. Technically it lies beyond Newington itself, standing on an awkward elongated kite-shaped site between a railway line and Dalkeith Road, between Prestonfield and Peffermill. History ...

nearby. The graveyard was necessitated by a major expansion of the city on its south side from around 1810. It was designed with a small stone watchtower, positioned such as to view over the two legs of the cemetery, being built during the height of fears over graverobbing. Peripheral plots were built as enclosed stone vaults with iron bars on their top, for the same reason. Operating largely as an "overflow" burial ground it lacked the kudos of other graveyards such as

Greyfriars Kirkyard Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a num ...

and operated largely for functional purposes. From 1842 its potential need greatly reduced due to the opening of

Warriston Cemetery Warriston Cemetery is a cemetery in Edinburgh. It lies in Warriston, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by the then newly-formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and occupies around of land on a slightly sloping si ...

and Dean Cemetery which offered far more potential for a grand setting. Graves thereafter are largely limited to local tradesmen and their families.

Notable interments

*Forrest Alexander (1759-1833) founder of the

Commercial Bank of Scotland The Commercial Bank of Scotland Ltd. was a Scottish commercial bank. It was founded in Edinburgh in 1810, and obtained a royal charter in 1831. It grew substantially through the 19th and early 20th centuries, until 1958, when it merged with th ...

*Rev Dr Robert Elder 1808-1892) Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland in 1871 * Rev Robert Gordon (1786-1853) * Richard Huie (1795-1867) surgeon *James Mercer of Scotsbank (d.1846) *Hugh Pillans (1783-1852) printer with Pillans & Wilson *Ronaldson memorial by Alexander Handyside Ritchie (1840) *Andrew Usher (1782-1856) brewer, father of

Andrew Usher Andrew Usher II (5 January 1826 – 1 November 1898) was a Scottish whisky distiller and blender. Background Usher's father, whose name he shared, Andrew Usher (1782 – 1855), was a prominent Scottish brewer who had experimented with the ble ...

*Rev

James Aitken Wylie James Aitken Wylie (9 August 1808 – 1 May 1890) was a Scottish historian of religion and Presbyterian minister. He was a prolific writer and is most famous for writing ''The History of Protestantism''. Life Wylie was born on 9 August ...

(1808-1890)

References

{{coord, 55.9390, -3.1757, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Cemeteries in Edinburgh