Author Archives: friendsofwarristoncemetery

DOORS OPEN DAYS 2026 UPDATE

07 Friday Aug 2026

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Due to overwhelming popularity, our volunteer-led guided tour tickets for his year’s Doors Open Days event on Saturday 26th September have already SOLD OUT! However, we do have unlimited availability for self-led tours – no tickets needed for these, just show up and get a map from one of our volunteers. If you’ve ever needed an excuse to visit Warriston, here’s your chance to have a wander in our beautiful green space and discover some of our “residents”.

Self-guided tours of Warriston Cemetery with maps on Saturday 26th September only.
Visitors may take self-guided tours with free maps, at anytime between 10am-4pm, no tickets or pre-booking needed. Look for our volunteers at the “Red Lady” tomb.

Visitors can explore Warriston Cemetery on a self-led guided tour. Notable graves, Victorian funeral practices, local history and biodiversity projects can be discovered. Friends of Warriston Cemetery volunteers will also be on-site taking part in our regular workday activities and can demonstrate and instruct visitors on some of our techniques. 

The Friends of Warriston Cemetery group was set up in July 2013 to care for the first garden cemetery in Edinburgh. Opened in 1843, the cemetery was in private ownership until 1994, when it was compulsorily purchased by the City of Edinburgh Council following years of abandonment. Together the Council and the Friends are working to restore the 9+ hectares of heavily overgrown cemetery, seeking a balance between family/public access and biodiversity and wildlife protection.

Please note:
The entire site is outdoors. Please dress appropriately for the weather.
There is no access from the Warriston Crematorium side.
There are no public toilets at Warriston Cemetery.
While some of the site is wheelchair accessible, most paths aren’t paved, some paths are narrow and bumpy, and inclement weather may make them muddy.

Doors Open Day 2026 at Warriston Cemetery!

01 Saturday Aug 2026

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We are delighted to announce that the Friends of Warriston Cemetery are taking part in this year’s Doors Open Days event! We are hosting guided and self-led tours on Saturday 26th September only. The guided tour tickets are free but must be booked in advance at EventBrite (no tickets needed for self-guided tours – just show up and get a map). If you’ve ever needed an excuse to visit Warriston, here’s your chance to have a wander, discover some of our “residents”, and ask lots of questions!

Click HERE to book free tickets for our volunteer-led guided tours.

Overview

Free Volunteer-led Guided Tours of Warriston Cemetery (Self-guided tours with maps also available). Saturday 26th September only.

Visitors can explore Warriston Cemetery as part of a volunteer-led guided tour. Notable graves, Victorian funeral practices, local history and biodiversity projects will be discussed. Friends of Warriston Cemetery volunteers will also be on-site taking part in our regular workday activities and can demonstrate and instruct visitors on some of our techniques. Tickets are required for our volunteer-led tours, with a maximum of 20 visitors per tour. (Tickets are free.) Meet at the “Red Lady” tomb.

Alternatively, visitors may take self-guided tours with free maps, at anytime between 10am-4pm, no tickets or pre-booking needed. Look for our volunteers at the “Red Lady” tomb.

The Friends of Warriston Cemetery group was set up in July 2013 to care for the first garden cemetery in Edinburgh. Opened in 1843, the cemetery was in private ownership until 1994, when it was compulsorily purchased by the City of Edinburgh Council following years of abandonment. Together the Council and the Friends are working to restore the 9+ hectares of heavily overgrown cemetery, seeking a balance between family/public access and biodiversity and wildlife protection.

Please note:

The entire site is outdoors. Please dress appropriately for the weather.

There is no access from the Warriston Crematorium side.

There are no public toilets at Warriston Cemetery.

While some of the site is wheelchair accessible, most paths aren’t paved, some paths are narrow and bumpy, and inclement weather may make them muddy.

Click HERE to book free tickets for our volunteer-led guided tours.

Advertising disclaimer.

17 Sunday May 2020

Posted by in Information

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We would like to point out that NONE of the advertisements (ads) are placed or controlled by or financially benefits us, The Friends of Warriston Cemetery group. There may be ads that crop up that are connected with scams and regrettably we cannot do anything about them except bring this to your attention. We would ask, for your peace of mind as well as ours, that you do not click on any of the ads that may appear on our site. If you need a particular service then please perform an Internet search from the home page of your browser so that you are in control. Thank you.

January 2020 Round-up.

01 Saturday Feb 2020

Posted by in Headstones and monuments, Humour, Views, Work In Progress

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Various days in January 2020. Not very much going on this month but there will be more activity as the year grows.

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News from the cemetery Garden; bulbs are showing.

 

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The Snowdrops begin.

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A bout of breeziness brought down a huge tree branch across this path. It fell from a tree to the right of the picture, and that sawn edge is from previous work to recreate the path. A couple of hours of sawing through lots of little off-branches and the path is navigable again

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Everything is coming out early again. Here are some snowdrops, daffodil buds and heather. We have crocus shoots and bluebells coming out too, but they’re not ready for their close-ups yet.

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The modern equivalent of “Ten Green Bottles”! Another three were in hands or pockets.

 

We were asked, via our Facebook page, if we would take photos of a couple of family gravestones. Below are some of the photos we were able to send the inquirer…

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27/03/2019 In ‘The Garden’.

28 Thursday Mar 2019

Posted by in Views and Nature, Work In Progress

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Clicking on an image opens a larger size view. Opens in a new tab/page.

Photographs provided by Graham Jones.

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Female blackbird.

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Robin pair indulging in pair bonding as well as providing extra food for egg production.

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Work in progress.

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Points of interest map.

13 Monday Nov 2017

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This map indicates just some of the many points of interest within Warriston Cemetery. Click on the map to view it full-size. Opens in a new tab/page. If printing, it’s best to set it to A4 size, landscape format, no margins, no headers/footers.

the first points of interest map

Remembrance Sunday, 2017.

12 Sunday Nov 2017

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Thank you to the Rev. Joanne Foster for leading the Service, to Dr Mark Taylor for playing a moving lament afterwards, to Councillor and Mrs Whyte for laying a wreath on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council, to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for their continuing care of the monument and to our members for attending this morning. It was a beautiful morning, but very cold.

 

Click on an image below to see the full-size version.

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