Sighthill Cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland

Oh my gosh, imagine this! So, I was walking around Sighthill Cemetery, all by myself, right? And suddenly, I see this guy with his whole face covered, wearing a full face mask, and he's riding a bicycle, right towards me. At first, I was like, "Wait a minute, I'm the only one here! What if he tries to snatch my phone?" I started thinking," Okay, maybe I should put my phone inside my bag and get ready to run." But then I thought," No, just walk; you’re fine." And guess what? I was totally fine!

I visited Sighthill Cemetery on a Sunday evening because the sun was still shining bright and beautiful. I really wanted to take photos of the cemetery, read about it, and share all this info with you guys on the blog. And I'm so glad I finally did it after passing by here like 100 times already. It was such an adventure!

So what is the Sighthill cemetery in Glasgow about?

Sighthill Cemetery is a super old cemetery right in the middle of Glasgow. It’s been around since 1840; can you believe that? It remains active, indicating that people continue to use it for various purposes. There's even a working crematorium there. It’s located in the Sighthill neighborhood, right on the A803 Springburn Road. It’s kind of between Cowlairs Park and Petershill Park, just north of the city center. And to the north, it’s bordered by Keppochhill Road.

The gates are totally gorgeous and were designed by John Stephen of Scott, Stephen & Gale back in 1839. They have this super fancy Greek style. The cemetery itself opened in 1840, and the very first burial happened on April 24th of that year.

The cemetery has some pretty famous people buried there too! There's Andrew White, John Baird, and Andrew Hardie, who were all involved in the "Radical Rising" of 1820. They were executed for treason, which is so intense. Originally, they were buried in paupers' graves in Stirling, but in 1847, their remains were brought back to Glasgow and reburied at Sighthill. Andrew White was actually one of the nineteen people whose death sentences were commuted. He was sent to Australia but came back to Scotland years later and passed away in Glasgow Royal Infirmary in 1872.

And there’s also Duncan Brown, a really talented amateur photographer who lived from 1819 to 1897. His work gives us a peek into what life was like in Glasgow from the 1850s to the 1890s. Isn’t that just fascinating?

Notable burials: 

George A. Walker Arnott (1799–1868), botanist
Andrew Bonar (1810–1892), Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland
Thomas Barclay (1792–1873), Principal of Glasgow University
James Hedderwick (1814–1897), newspaper editor
Robert Jamieson (1802–1880), Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
John Mitchell (1786–1881) was a Glasgow merchant and ship owner, known as "the Father of the Glasgow Town Council".
John Mossman (1817–1890), sculptor
William Mossman (1793–1851), sculptor
James Seaton Reid (1798–1851), Irish-born academic
Sarah West (1790–1876), actress
William Rae Wilson (1817–1893), social reformer

Commonwealth Graves

Identified casualties from first & second world war.
Total identified casualties: 116

Address: Springburn Rd, Glasgow, G21 1SE
Hours: Open 24 hours

These photos were taken on July 28, 2024. I started my tour of the cemetery at 5:40 PM on that Sunday.

Wishing you all a happy new month.