350 graves to be exhumed

[apanderson]

The following photos show what's now happening at Wellwynd Church.

It should be noted that this ground is at the rear of the building and not the wee portion at the front (Lodger posted a photo of that earlier)

By the looks of things, and after having a chat with the workers, there only appear to have been 4 existing stones in this section. The stone 'missing' is at the opposite side from the 3 in the photo below. If you look really carefully, you might just catch a glimpse of it behind the digger.

Anne

[apanderson]

At the beginning of this week, staff were sent along to Wellwynd to lift (as best they could) all the fallen stones, so there's a lot more standing (or propped up) than there was.

Amazing what a wee bit of publicity can do!!

Anne

[history lover]

If you could let me know please which Devlins and Hughes are buried there. I would greatly appreciate the help.

[Lodger]

Hello History Lover,
Welcome to Rootschat.  The internment records for Wellwynd, Broomknoll and Chapel St (the 3 churchyards within Airdrie burgh) have either not survived, never existed in the first place or are lying in someones attic!
So all we have are the monumental inscriptions and for Wellwynd, a list of lair owners that was probably compiled about 1850.

I can find no Devlin or Hughes mentioned in any of the monumental inscriptions (MIs).  The Wellwynd lair purchase list has a Neil Hughes, miner, Airdrie buying a lair on 6th August 1840.
No new lairs were sold in any of these 3 churchyards after 1879, after that date New Monkland parish churchyard and Ryden Mains cemetery, (both at Glenmavis), Clarkston churchyard and St Josephs R C cemetery were, I think, the other options if you lived in Airdrie.

New Monkland churchyard has records from 1842.
Ryden Mains (adjoining the churchyard) has records from 1879.
Clarkston churchyard has records from 1840.
St Joseph's Dykehead Road has records from 1860.

All the existing records are now held by North Lanarkshire Council at Bellshill.  At the moment these records are in the process of being digitalised. They may or may not be available online when the project is complete, I don't know if that decision has been made, or if it is to be on a pay-for-view site.

Good luck with your research.

Lodger.

[Lodger]

I paid a visit to Wellwynd this afternoon, the stones that were lifted recently had all, apart from one, been transcribed.  The "new" one is very badly worn and all I could decipher was "Alexander Hunter died July 1899 aged 84 years, his wife Margaret Cordon died 11 November 1874 ........... (very worn) ...... Mary Hunter...........

The vandals are quite ruthless, I saw red spray-paint on many of the stones, but having the huge hedge cut down has helped a great deal.  Once this new cafe (or whetever it is going to be) is up and running there may be floodlights and cameras, we can only hope!

[apanderson]

Funnily enough this stone was one of the ones I 'scrutinised' too - it was still lying flat at the time and maybe the angle of the sun made it easier to read?

I noted the following:

Top of stone missing                           

In memory of his children
JANET died 9th March 1886 aged ?                        
JOHN died ? aged ? months                           
ALEXANDER died ?
ALEXANDER? died ….? aged 9 months?
MARY died ….. ? aged 4? Years                           
And of his beloved wife MARGARET GORDON died 11th November 1874 aged 66 years
Much and deeply regretted.
Be ye also ready.         
The above ALEXANDER HUNTER died 31st July 1898? aged 84 years
In memory of his beloved wife MARY HUNTER who departed this life after ……..?

How was the 'Back Yard' looking? I expect pretty mucky after the amount of rain recently!

Anne

[Lodger]

You managed more than I did - specs left in the car as usual.

I parked on South Bridge St and walked through the lane at the Bank of Scotland. didn't know it had been blocked-off at the churchyard but I managed, only just, to squeeze through the barrier. Looks like the church has been gutted, I wonder what happened to the memorial tablet(s) from inside?  Any ideas?

[apanderson]

LOL!!

I'm the same- specs on, specs off, specs on ......... !

I noticed the gate on Wellwynd had been closed (never seen it closed for as long as I can remember), but I parked in the car park and the barriers around the front of the church didn't affect the wee entrance at the time.

If you turn into the flats/care home? behind the back churchyard, you get a great view of what's going on.

I spoke to some of the workers last week but they hadn't a clue what had happened to anything which was on the inside - hopefully the memorial will be being cared for somewhere. Maybe the chap who posted earlier will keep us informed of what's happening.

Anne

[Robneve]

I'm in favor of moving bodies when something like this happens.  The reason being that no matter what, sooner or later, one cemetery or another is going to wind with a car park or a high rise, or a supermarket on top of it.  Anyone who wants to visit the grave of John Knox for example, will have to go almost in the middle of the road to look for a wee brass plate.  I think it would have been better to move him to a cemetery which at least has the right atmosphere.

Near where I live (Pickering, Ontario) there is a beautiful cemetery with the "Erskine Church" right in the middle. The Church only opens June and July and right beside it there is a concrete plinth with a number of very old headstones cemented in to it. It is much nicer than I make it sound here.  Obviously moved from another location and none the worse looking for it.

Next time I'm over there, I'll get a photograph.  I'm sure both Lodger & Apananderson will appreciate it.


Cheers,

Rob