Opened in 1874
Allenvale is a large cemetery to the west of the city. Bounded by the Great Southern Road,
Riverside Drive and Allenvale Road the main grounds cover a large acreage. A
further part, with later extensions lie to the north of Allenvale Road.
A beautiful and
well maintained graveyard with mature trees and bushes. Part of the
graveyard overlooks the River Dee and since the grounds are on higher
ground there are some splendid view of the river and the southern
suburbs of Aberdeen. There are some interesting stones from
the late Victorian period, and reflecting the affluence of some of the
incumbents, there are some notable examples of sculpture work to be
found scattered throughout. Also of note are a small number of graves still
featuring intact bell jar flower memorials - an increasingly rare find.
The cemetery stones are in excellent condition with
no evidence of vandalism. For anyone who doubts the influence of
granite from Aberdeen I invite them to look around Allenvale! In
the original site there are approximately 7000 memorials naming a little
over 22,000 individuals while the northern extensions contain
approximately 5400 memorials with over 13,000 named individuals. So as
you can see this is a substantial resting place!
The main part of the cemetery is interestingly laid out with many
mature trees and shrubs. There are roughly four quadrants with many
curves and turns which leads to interesting little walks within. The
northern extensions (opened 1907, 1910 and 1931) are quite different - these are laid out in strict rows and
are visually less appealing, though again
very well maintained. Most paths are gravel which is hard on the feet
but clean and water free.
Parking is easy on Allenvale Road where both sides of the cemetery
are readily seen.
Most definitely
worth a visit, but remember this is a large graveyard. If you
are looking
for a specific stone without the location you could spend the whole day there and
still not locate it. If you have the date of death seek out the
groundsmen as they have access to registers onsite and might be able to
direct you to the correct lair. I've done this a couple of times and on
each occasion the staff were very helpful.
Highly recommended cemetery and in my opinion one of the city's very best.
If you require a specific gravestone photo from the above send me your relevant details and
I'll e-mail you what I have. Contact me
here
Click on photos below to enlarge
