St.Andrews Cathedral Graveyard - Fife, Scotland.
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creg-ny-baa
N 56° 20.419 W 002° 47.328
30V E 513056 N 6243977
Cemetery set amidst the ruins of the cathedral at St.Andrews on the east coast of Scotland.
Waymark Code: WMWDP5
Location: Northern Scotland, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/20/2017
Views: 1
The area around the cathedral at St.Andrews has been a site of worship since 700AD when the alleged relics of Saint Andrew were brought here by Saint Rule.
St.Rules Church was built in 1123 and extended in 1144, but was superseded when the larger cathedral was built. All that remains of the church is a small part of the chancel and the 100 foot tower.
The cathedral was eventually consecrated in 1318 after the west end had to be rebuilt when it was blown down in 1270. Since then the building was dogged by bad luck. The English stripped the lead from it during the Wars of Independence, then it had to be rebuilt after a fire in 1378. In 1409 the south transept collapsed during a winter storm, but it was after the reformation in 1559 that the building was ransacked and fell into disrepair.
During the late 1600s it was primarily used for quarrying and the grounds were turned into a graveyard.
Though no longer in use, there are over 500 graves containing most of the great and good of the town through its past history.
The cemetery can be visited at all times with the cathedral museum containing the oldest graves. The cathedral is east of the town centre only yards from the North Sea coast.