Looking back with Ian Scott on the history found within Camelon cemetery

Beautifully laid out and maintained it has served the town for over 150 years and is full of interest for those with a sense of history. Before it opened in 1869 the official place of burial was the Parish Kirkyard in the High Street which was available to all residents whether they attended church or not. Elsewhere there were church burial grounds in the Cow Wynd at the Tattie Kirk, on Tanners Brae for the West Church and Silver Row for members of the Erskine UP congregation. These were limited to their own members and this meant that the Parish Church was overwhelmed with demand for burial space at a time when the population was rising fast. It was already in a poor state as this report from 1859 makes clear:

“A filthy and offensive ditch separates the burial ground from the houses and the moisture which exudes from the crowded and elevated burial ground is most unwholesome to those living in these houses, shops or workrooms on the High Street.”

Fortunately help was at hand in the person of John Beeby the clerk to the Parochial Board who persuaded the reluctant members that they should find the money to provide a municipal cemetery. There was a huge debate as to where it would be located. Land to the south of Hodge Street was a favourite though some wanted to put it north of Meeks Road but in the end the Board opted for Dorrator. Provost John Russel was a leading voice against this decision which he thought left the cemetery far too far from the town.

In 1868 11 acres of land were acquired from the Earl of Zetland and the next year work began on laying out the ground following a plan drawn up by “Mr Clark, late of the Glasgow Botanic Gardens”. William Millar of the Port Glasgow Cemetery was appointed Superintendent at a salary of £80 plus a free house. The cemetery opened in August 1870. The area in use then lay close to the entrance and is presently designated by letters A to M rather than the numbers which were given to the many large extensions to the north over the decades. From the outset it was greatly admired for the beauty of the trees, shrubs and flower beds but the fact that 1500 lairs were set aside for paupers reminds us that there was a darker side to the burgh’s new prosperity.

A stroll through the oldest section is a treat. Not only fine stones and inscriptions but the occasional surprise as three young deer appeared no doubt on their way to scoff yet another floral tribute! Here are fine memorials to powerful families like the Aitkens, Cockburns, Nimmos and Russels, the poignant tomb of John Wilson of South Bantaskine with relief medallions of himself and his only son who died young, the broken column that marks the last resting place of the town’s greatest poet Robert Buchanan and the memorial to James Love the patron saint of local historians. Less decorative but just as significant the stones set almost side by side reminding us of Patrick Shiels and David Porteous who died in the 1923 Redding Pit Disaster. History round every corner. On a fine day there is no better place for a walk down memory lane.