1960s Village Works Gravestones

Inside the buildings next to Shuttle Row (currently used as the offices and conference facilities) are flagstone floors. Did you know that some of the stones within the floor, are actually the gravestones that were removed from the Blantyre Works Cemetery in the 1960s. The stones are difficult to find as the inscriptions are so worn, beyond reading and of course there are no bodies below! In June, I photographed them and later marked them up with a red outline to show where they are.

The stones were removed from the Blantyre Works Cemetery when the cemetery was cleared in the 1960s. Stones belonging to two members of the Livingstone family are taken for safe keeping by the staff at David Livingstone Centre, retained on the centre ground at the Rose Garden. These other stones placed into the floor. I have to say, the idea of those stones being trampled on even further will only lead to the worn inscriptions vanishing forever. Its not the best idea to have them inlaid into a floor being walked on. I sincerely hope the National Trust place them in an upright position when the Shuttle Row Museum gets its extensive renovation in the very near future. The site of the old Works Cemetery is now the lower end of modern day Caskie Drive housing estate.

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