The Old Burial Ground - Broughty Ferry, Dundee - UK Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

This information sign can be found on the north side of Fisher Street on the shoreline of the Tay estuary in the town of Broughty Ferry, once a fishing village in the late 18th century, but now grown to become an eastern suburb of the city of Dundee. The illustrated sign gives information on the nearby burial ground hidden behind a wooden fence on the other side of the sign, and also the development of the surrounding area from a few fishermen's huts into the large urban area that it is today. The text reads as follows:

'The old burial ground is tucked away off Fisher Street, hidden behind Victorian tenements in Church Street and more recent housing around Bell Rock Square. It has many interesting gravestones, relating to the people who lived in the surrounding fishing village and beyond. It was the burial ground for a pre-reformation chapel, abandoned about 1670. The threshold stone confirms that the walls and the Mort house were repaired in 1780. After long use by the local community, the burial ground was officially closed in 1867 by order of the Privy Council, after a severe outbreak of cholera claimed 12 lives. Local people were outraged by the decision and burials continued in family plots, with the involvement of the grave digger William Skirving, and local undertaker Matthew Deas.

However, matters came to a head after the burials of James Archibald and Mary Lorimer. Deas and Skirving were summoned before Sheriff Smith for disobeying the law, they pleaded ignorance of the law but were convicted. Skirving, as the chief offender, was fined £5 and Deas was fined £2, with the threat of prison if the fines were not paid. The fines were quickly paid, the money for Skirving's being raised by a public collection in Broughty Ferry. He later returned home to be carried in triumph through the streets, in an armchair brought to the station for that purpose.

In the meantime, the burial ground at St Aidan's in Brook Street, which had been opened in 1831, was used until the opening of Barnhill Cemetery in 1869.

The Fishing Village
In the late eighteenth century the village was little more than a few fishermen's huts along the shore line but it continued to grow into a closely knit community. By 1855 there were around 30 fishing boats and over 75 fishermen. Other family members were also involved, sons follower fathers into the fishing, while wives and daughters collected bait, baited lines and sold the fish. Both line and net fishing were carried out according to the season. The area along the shore was a hive of activity and soon became overcrowded, and to cater for the growing numbers new lanes and closes were built off Fisher Street.

Further Development
Once the railway arrived in the 1830s, Brought Ferry became much more accessible. Broughty Ferry Station is the oldest working station in Scotland. Wealthy people moved from the heavily industrialised Dundee with its smoking chimneys, to build their mansions on the hill overlooking the sea where the air was much fresher. Broughty Ferry began to expand. The commercial centre was built from 1830 onwards with Dundee finally annexing its seaside suburb in 1913.'