Wellshill Cemetery


Wellshill Cemetery is a 19th century cemetery in northern Perth in Scotland. The cemetery is still operational and is under the control of Perth and Kinross Council.
In general the grounds are well-landscaped and well-maintained but with some minor vandalism in the central sections. Unlike many council cemeteries stones are not laid flat if considered dangerous but instead are marked with caution tapes.

History

The cemetery was opened in 1844 as a private cemetery. The original section and original entrance gates lie to the south-east.
A parochial was added to the north around 1860 and further private sections added to the west
and far north. A modern section was added by the Council on former Jeanfield recreation ground to the west, and is known as Jeanfield Cemetery.
A wall exists between the two cemeteries but the wall has a gap at each end for mutual access.
Modern access is from the south-west on Jeanfield Road. The feature nearest the modern entrance is the monument and attached graves of the 381 Polish pilots who died serving Britain during the Second World War. There are over 90 Commonwealth service personnel and one Belgian soldier buried in the cemetery from the First World War and over 120 Commonwealth personnel from the Second. The cemetery contains a total 573 war graves, maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, of persons who died of wounds, mainly at Perth Royal Infirmary, and other causes.
The Polish code-breaker Lieutenant Colonel Gwido Langer was also originally buried here in 1948, as a Polish Signal Corps grave within the Polish war graves, but his body was exhumed in 2010 for reburial in Poland with full military honours.

Notable interments

The only grave of note in the Jeanfield section is the poet William Soutar