The Southern Necropolis is a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

in the

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportun ...

district of southern

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It was opened in the year 1840 to provide an affordable and respectable place of

burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

for the people of Gorbals and the surrounding areas of the city of Glasgow. Over 250,000 individuals have been buried within the many lairs.

History

The cemetery was established in response to the crowded state of the Old Gorbals Burial Ground, on Rutherglen Road. Proposals for a new cemetery were put forward in 1839, and the following year land was purchased from William Gilmour of Oatlands. The first burial, that of a 16-month-old child, took place on 21 July 1840. There are three sections to the cemetery: Central opened in 1840; Eastern opened in 1846; and the larger Western section opened in 1850. The entrance to the cemetery is at Caledonia Road, via the grand

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the mos ...

which was built in 1848 to designs by the Glasgow architect Charles Wilson. In 1954 the cemetery played host to a large group of child "vampire hunters" searching for the purported "Gorbals Vampire". The incident, sparked by an

urban myth An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

that a vampire had killed two local children, was blamed on American horror comics such as ''

Tales from the Crypt Tales from the Crypt may refer to: * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (album), by American rapper C-Bo * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (comics), published by EC Comics during the 1950s ** ''Tales from the Crypt'' (film), a 1972 Amicus film starring Ralph Ric ...

'', despite none of the comics referring to the creature in question, and the ensuing

moral panic A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usua ...

led to an increase in comic censorship. In 2016, a mural which features the vampire and a brief line describing the 1950s event was created by Ella Bryson and Art Pistol. It is located in an archway on St Luke's Place, not far from Glasgow's Citizen Theatre in the Gorbals. The Southern Necropolis was taken over by the Glasgow Corporation in 1952, and is now operated by

Glasgow City Council Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of the S ...

. The cemetery is protected as a Category B

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 ...

, while the gate lodge is listed at Category A.

Notable interments

Sir Thomas Lipton Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, 1st Baronet (10 May 18482 October 1931) was a Scotsman of Ulster-Scots parentage who was a self-made man, as company founder of Lipton Tea, merchant, philanthropist and yachtsman who lost 5 straight America's Cup ...

(d. 1931), tea merchant *

Agnes Reston Agnes Reston (''nee'' Harkness, 1771 – 24 December 1856) was a Scotland, Scottish wartime nurse during the Peninsular War. She has become known as the Heroine of Matagorda, for her outstanding bravery in an early phase of the Siege of Cádiz. ...

(d. 1856), wartime nurse *

John Robertson John, Jon, or Jonathan Robertson may refer to: Politicians United Kingdom politicians * J. M. Robertson (John Mackinnon Robertson, 1856–1933), British journalist and Liberal MP for Tyneside 1906–1918 *John Robertson (Bothwell MP) (1867–1926) ...

(d. 1987), Labour politician * George Rodgers (d. 1870), Victoria Cross recipient *

Alexander "Greek" Thomson Alexander "Greek" Thomson (9 April 1817 – 22 March 1875) was an eminent Scottish architect and architectural theorist who was a pioneer in sustainable building. Although his work was published in the architectural press of his day, it was ...

(d. 1875), architect * Charles Wilson (d. 1863), architect * Thomas B. Seath (d.1903), shipbuilder * Allan Glen (d. 1850), philanthropist

War graves

The Necropolis contains graves of 11 Commonwealth service personnel, 10 from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and one

airman An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred as a soldier in other definitions. In civilian aviation usage, t ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, registered and maintained by the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

.
CWGC Cemetery Report.

References

* *

External links

Southern Necropolis Research

Southern Necropolis Heritage Trail
Glasgow City Council
Southern Necropolis
Find A Grave {{Cemeteries in Scotland Cemeteries in Scotland Gorbals Category A listed buildings in Glasgow Category B listed buildings in Glasgow 1840 establishments in Scotland Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Scotland Buildings and structures in Glasgow Necropoleis

History

Notable interments

War graves

See also

References

External links