A small walled burial ground on a pre-Reformation chaplainry site preserves a morthouse and memorials dating from the late seventeenth century.
Quick facts
- Date
- Pre-Reformation religious site; morthouse and wall repaired 1780; burials ended 1869
- Architect / designer
- Builders unrecorded
- Type
- Walled burial ground with morthouse
- Designation
- Listed building, Category B (LB25789)
- OS grid reference
- NO 45898 30746
Architecture, archaeology and continuing use
Rubble walls enclose the graves, with a compact rectangular morthouse built into one corner. Its battered and rounded masonry, small openings and polygonal roof give the utilitarian structure a distinctive form.
Its story
The ground occupies the site of the pre-Reformation Chaplainry of Broughty, abandoned around 1670. A repair inscription records work in 1780; burial continued until Barnhill cemetery opened in 1869, and restoration followed in the 1980s.
Why it is included
Category B listing recognises an uncommon mortuary structure and a compact place of memory whose stones document local lives across the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
What to notice
- The morthouse embedded in the enclosing wall.
- A step carrying the 1780 repair inscription.
- Memorial stones spanning several generations.
Reading the surroundings
Use only an open public entrance and keep to established ground. Never climb walls, enter the morthouse, touch unstable stones or disturb graves, plants or offerings; treat all memorials with care.
Timeline
- Before 1560 A chaplainry gave the site an ecclesiastical role before the Scottish Reformation.
- 1689 The earliest identified surviving gravestone was erected.
- 1780 Repairs renewed the wall and defensive morthouse.
- 1869 New interments ceased when Barnhill cemetery opened.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
The checked designation does not establish current opening hours, path condition or the authorship of individual memorials.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: Broughty Ferry Old Burial Ground, LB25789 — Current designation status, mapped location, date, fabric and architectural or archaeological interest.
- Trove designation: LB25789 — Parallel national record identity and archival context.
Location
OS grid reference NO 45898 30746 · Location confidence: High: the current national designation supplies an exact mapped National Grid Reference; the public text separately states access and any current-use uncertainty. · Select the marker to open its satellite view in Google Maps. On desktop, drag Pegman (the yellow figure) onto a blue road. On mobile, turn on the Street View layer and tap a blue road. Other photo markers may be user-contributed.
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