Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh

Greyfriars Kirkyard is the burial ground around Greyfriars Kirk, with weathered stones and enclosed tombs filling the space beside George Heriot’s School. Burials began here in August 1562, after royal approval allowed this ground to replace the burial place at St Giles’ Cathedral; the old site fell out of use around 1600. The most dramatic story belongs to the Covenanters: they signed the National Covenant at Greyfriars Kirk on 28 February 1638, and after defeat at Bothwell Brig in 1679, about 1200 prisoners were held in a field beside the churchyard.

That ground later became part of the burial yard, and its vaults are known as the Covenanters’ Prison. Along the older walls, carved memorials use images such as the Death Head, the Angel of the Resurrection, and the King of Terrors to explore death and immortality. Enclosed lairs and ironwork mortsafes reveal a grimmer practical concern: protection against grave robbers and the resurrection men who supplied Edinburgh Medical College.

The domed tomb of Sir George MacKenzie carries its own extraordinary episode: in 2003, two teenagers entered through a ventilation opening, broke into coffins, and stole a skull. The kirkyard and its monuments have category A listed-building protection.