Graveyard Survey

Event ID 558765

Category Recording

Type Graveyard Survey

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/558765

NT 1917 4052 Members of Peeblesshire Archaeological Society, assisted by Helen Bradley (CSA), undertook a survey of the graveyard as part of a wider project which will combine conservation of an important 18th-century memorial with interpretation of the church and other local archaeological sites and monuments. The Society’s current work at Lyne forms one of a series of projects being developed under the auspices of the

CSA Adopt-a-Monument Scheme, re-launched in 2006 to offer support to volunteer groups in the conservation and promotion of local heritage.

Previous work at Lyne (undertaken by PAS in conjunction with Biggar Archaeology Group) involved the excavation of three long cists on the nearby glacial knoll known as Abbey Knowe (RCAHMS: NT14SE 25). An interpretive panel was subsequently constructed, explaining the importance of the cists and providing information about nearby sites, particularly the Roman fort (RCAHMS: NT14SE 4), which is easily visible from

the vantage point of the Knowe.

The Society has now turned its attention to the church and its graveyard, and in particular to the monument to Janet Veitch (d 1712), a relatively rare and well-preserved example of an Adam and Eve memorial (Willsher 1992). Owing to well-meaning but inappropriate housing in an enclosed perspex covering box in the 1980s, the stone has begun to suffer badly from a range of destructive effects ranging from mechanical damage to moss and lichen growth. As part of the wider Lyne project, PAS is attempting to raise funds to have the stone professionally conserved and redisplayed. The results of the graveyard survey will facilitate the interpretation and management of the site.

Archive deposited with RCAHMS and Scottish Borders Council SMR.

Willsher, B, 1992 Adam and Eve scenes on kirkyard monuments in the Scottish Lowlands, Proc Soc Antiq Scotl 122, 413-51.