Gravestones gathered around the Alyth Arches preserve an outdoor archive of craft, family memory and the changing town.
Quick facts
- Date
- Monuments from the eighteenth century onwards
- Architect / designer
- Multiple memorial masons and local families
- Type
- Historic burial ground and memorial collection
- Designation
- Listed building, Category B (LB21039)
- OS grid reference
- NO 24511 48781
Architecture and continuing use
The enclosed burial ground contains memorials from the eighteenth century onwards arranged around the surviving medieval arcade. Varied stones, inscriptions and planting create a separate heritage asset even though the scheduled ruin stands within it.
Its story
Burial continued around the old parish church as the fabric changed and worship later moved elsewhere. In 2015 the listing was clarified to exclude the separately scheduled church ruins, distinguishing the memorial landscape from the medieval masonry.
Why it is included
Category B listing recognises the churchyard and its accumulated monuments as a coherent historic place, while legal separation avoids counting the ruins twice.
What to notice
- The range of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century memorial forms.
- Family names and occupations recorded in inscriptions.
- How paths and stones frame views of the medieval arcade.
Reading the surroundings
Walk carefully and respectfully, keep off graves and do not rub, chalk or clean inscriptions. Take particular care around unstable stones and yield to funerals, mourners and maintenance work.
Timeline
- 1700s The earliest specifically recorded group of surviving memorials began to accumulate.
- 1839 The neighbouring ruined church ceased to be the active parish kirk.
- 2015 The listing was updated to distinguish churchyard monuments from the scheduled ruins.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
The brief listing does not catalogue every memorial, so dates, makers and condition require stone-by-stone research.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: Old Parish Kirk Churchyard, LB21039 — Current designation status, mapped location, date, fabric and architectural or archaeological interest.
- Trove designation: LB21039 — Parallel national record identity and archival context.
- Cateran Ecomuseum: Alyth Auld Town itinerary — Current walking approach and local context for the churchyard and Arches.
Location
OS grid reference NO 24511 48781 · Location confidence: High: the current national designation supplies an exact mapped National Grid Reference; public text separately states access and 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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