Glasgow Necropolis Scottish monuments, John Knox statue architecture, Scotland Victorian cemetery statues, Architect

Glasgow Necropolis : Scottish City Graveyard

Key Monuments + Architects at this Victorian cemetery in Strathclyde, southwest Scotland, UK

post updated 21 September 2023

Glasgow Necropolis – John Knox Statue: Doric column

Date built: 1825

Architect: Thomas Hamilton

Glasgow Necropolis

Photographs from 1968 visit by Norwegian architecture student Dag Nilsen:

Scottish Victorian cemetery photographs © Dag Nilsen

Necropolis Glasgow

The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland. It is on a low but very prominent hill to the east of Glasgow Cathedral (St. Mungo’s Cathedral). Fifty thousand individuals have been buried here.

photos © Dag Nilsen

Typical for the period, only a small percentage are named on monuments and not every grave has a stone. Approximately 3,500 monuments exist here.

photos © Dag Nilsen

Predating the cemetery, the statue of John Knox sitting on a column at the top of the hill, dates from 1825. The first burials were in 1832 in the extreme north-east on the lowest ground and were exclusively for Jewish burials.

Alexander Thomson designed a number of its tombs, and John Bryce and David Hamilton designed other architecture for the grounds.

Glasgow Necropolis Photos from 10 Feb 2011

photographs © Adrian Welch

Thomas Hamilton (1784 – 1858) was born in Glasgow. Most of his buildings were located in the Scottish capital. He was based in Edinburgh where he designed many of that city’s prominent buildings.

Thomas Hamilton

More details due online soon

Glasgow Architecture

Major Strathclyde Building Designs – selection:

Glasgow Cathedral

photo © Adrian Welch

Glasgow Museum of Religion

photo © Adrian Welch
Restoration project adjacent to St Mungo’s Cathedral by one of Scotland’s key restoration architects.