Portsoy: a rare iron and stone gravemarker



A magnificent display of crocus in Aird Street. Spring really has arrived in Portsoy

The recent mild weather, 14.5c this afternoon, has brought wildflowers into bloom. There were several patches of butterwort in damp places at the roadside between Fraserburgh and Portsoy, notably by the Tyrie Burn. The banks of the Durn at Back Green (pictured below) had lesser celandines, daffodils and snowdrops all in flower.




Portsoy graveyard is situated by the shore close to the mouth of the Durn Burn where it forms a peaceful final resting place within sight and sound of the sea. It dates from around 1728 and has been extended on several occasions over the centuries so that now it seems to consist of several linked enclosures.There is a wide variety of gravestones ranging from the roughly hewn stones of the early 18th century to massively imposing Victorian headstones. The styles of earlier examples, in particular, are subtly different from those found in Buchan.

  

A rare surviving example of a cast iron and stone gravemarker. These were popular for a brief period in the 19th century but have not stood the test of time well, in many cases the iron work has corroded away. The stone inset solved the problem of writing individual inscriptions on to pre cast iron. Ironically this stone is that of  a mason.

Portsoy Salomon Bothy, the venue for an interesting talk on Castle Point, Cullykhan where an enigmatic medieval castle was excavated during the 1960s.