IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Glebe Place, GALASHIELS, TD1 3JW

This is a view towards Church Street with Blaikie’s Hill in the background.

Gala Aisle was built in 1636 as the burial place of the Lairds of Gala, It lay beside the original Parish Church of Galashiels which was founded in 1617 and demolished in 1813 when the congregation moved to a new Church the old one being abandoned due to its size and condition. All that remains is the Aisle and a fine Graveyard containing many fine memorials.

The hammer and horse shoes indicate that this is the grave of a blacksmith. The stone has sunk into the ground over the years and there will likely be an anvil below the horse shoes. The winged soul above is a symbol of immortality representing the journey of the human soul towards Heaven for the Day of Judgement.

The figure four on this stone indicates that this is the grave of a merchant. This leaning gravestone is on the left by a beech tree in this general view of the old burial ground Image

The figure four indicates that this is the grave of a merchant. The stone is flat on the ground. For a view when it was upright but at an angle, see Image

Row of white cottages

The Oldest Street in Galashiels the meaning of the name is lost in the mists of time

The Scott or Gala Aisle, within the old burial ground of Galashiels, is apart from Old Gala House, the oldest surviving building in Galashiels, being erected in 1636 by Hugh Scott the then laird of Gala. The Scott Aisle was the burial ground of the Gala Family and is the only remaining part of the ancient Parish Kirk of Galashiels. There may have been a chapel on this site for hundreds of years prior to the church becoming designated in 1617 as the parish kirk for the area. The Aisle was restored and re-roofed in 1992. (Source: Galashiels Old Town walk booklet)

This memorial is in the Old Galashiels Parish Church burial ground between Church Street and Abbotsford Road. The inscription on the front panel is:- SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF MUNGO PARK, THE CELEBRATED AFRICAN TRAVELLER WHO PERISHED IN THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA IN 1805, AGED 35. ALSO TO ALICE ANDERSON, HIS WIFE WHO DIED AT EDINR IN 1840, AGED 59. ALSO THEIR ELDEST SON MUNGO, ASSIST SURGEON, E.I.C.S. WHO DIED AT TRICHINOPOLY MADRAS IN 1823, AGED 23, AND THOMAS, THEIR SECOND SON OF THE R.N. WHO DIED IN AFRICA 1827, AGED 24. (Note - Park died in 1806) An inscription on a side panel reads:- HERE LIE THE REMAINS OF ARCHIBALD PARK, TENANT IN FOWLSHIELS, WHO DIED 18TH NOV 1768, AGED 86, AND JEAN JERDON, HIS WIFE DIED 4TH JUNE 1751, AGED 73 ALSO OF MUNGO PARK, TENANT IN FOWLSHIELS, WHO DIED 22ND MAY 1793, AGED 79, AND ELSPETH HISLOP, HIS WIFE MOTHER OF THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER DIED AT FOWLSHIELS 28TH MARCH 1817, AGED 74, ALSO THEIR YOUNGEST SON JAMES, DIED 11TH AUGT 1784, AGED 4(?) Another side panel reads:- AND OF WALTER PARK, WHO DIED 14TH JANY, 1748 AGED 27 YEARS. JOHN PARK, TENANT IN WILLIAMHOPE, DIED 23RD SEP 1771, AGED 62.