Necropolis Summer Flower Planting

Glasgow Necropolis, Saturday 30th May, 1pm – 2.30pm

750 plants were laid down to create a stunning new circular summer scheme adding to the memorial to the 8,094 people buried in common graves in the Eta compartment. The planting was be accompanied by live music by Glasgow Chapel Choir and Maryhill Integration Network Joyous Choir.

It was a rewarding day spent honoring those who were laid to rest long ago.

It felt beautiful to bring new life to the space and pay tribute to their enduring memories. Planting together with friends and community members brought a great satisfaction and meaning to the day.

When working hands support each other it leaves peace in the heart and purpose on the day.

We planted bright, vibrant flowers on the beautiful souls who shaped today’s Glasgow at some point of their life. Thanks for giving me the opportunity.

Member of the Maryhill Integration Network Joyous Choir

A short film about the Communal Planting Event in Autumn 2024, part of the continued development of the Flower Memorial covering an area of 8,094 unmarked graves within the common ground of compartment Eta in the Glasgow Necropolis.

Film by Chris Leslie

The Necropolis - Glasgow's great silent 'City of the Dead' contains over 50,000 burials, it is well known for the grand memorials to the richer residents of the city, built from 1836 onwards. Less well known is that the cemetery contains 21,000 common or unmarked graves, where people were buried as their families or friends could not afford the price of a headstone or lair.

The Necropolis is split up into compartments named after the Greek alphabet, one named Eta, a small unassuming triangle of grass, contains 8,000 common burials.

In September 2024, 230 participants helped to plant thousands of bulbs which will become a living memorial to those buried in the 21,000 common or unmarked graves in the Eta Compartment. The event was part of Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival.

Thanks to our partners Scouse Flowerhouse, musicians Sequoia and Fiona Hunter whose performances accompanied the planting, Ruby Flowers, who produced the beautiful flower sculpture live on site, and Michael Matar and Gerrie and Susan Douglas-Scott for their poignant words. Special thanks also to Mercedes Richardson and her students at Glasgow Clyde College English as a Second Language course, who wrote a poem about their experiences as New Glaswegians, which was recited live at the event by Mohammed Ibrahim, Musab Kater and Abdulhameed Afte.

We closed the event with shared food cooked by students from the college and Ibrahim Alissi, from Kitchen Glasgow, using potatoes grown by young unaccompanied asylum seekers and refugees from Anniesland College.

The flower memorial will remember and celebrate the lives of those who lived, worked, and died in Glasgow at a time of great change, irrespective of wealth or status.

The Glasgow Necropolis Flower Memorial is a partnership between Aproxima Arts, Scouse Flowerhouse and the National Wildflower Centre. Glasgow Requiem and the establishment of a permanent Glasgow Necropolis Flower Memorial has been made possible through the kind support of:

The Caram Trust
The Levenseat Trust
Creative Scotland
The Mushroom Trust
The Finnis Scott Foundation

The Postcode Lottery
The Hugh Fraser Foundation
The Stafford Trust
Glasgow Life
The National Lottery Community Fund

and with core support from the William Grant Foundation.

Please contribute to the Just Giving donation page if you can, so we have a small budget to keep the maintenance of the garden going over the coming years.

Flower Memorial Night Installation

A group of people walking outdoors on a paved path, with a woman leading and a man wearing a tan apron. In the background, an old building, possibly a church, is under renovation with scaffolding, and there are green trees and cloudy skies.

A woman with glasses and blonde hair tied back, wearing a black sweater and a tan apron, standing in a garden surrounded by various colorful flowers. She is reaching out to adjust or pick flowers on a large floral arch made of branches and flowers.

Group of people planting bulbs in a garden, with small white flags marking each planting spot, surrounded by greenery and trees.

A group of people planting potatoes in a garden with small white flags marking each plant, and a man in the foreground wearing a beige apron and holding a potato.

A group of people outdoors, with a man and young girl interacting in the foreground. The man is showing the girl a small object, possibly a seed or a nut. The girl is sitting on the ground, wearing a green jacket and a coral skirt. Other children and

A man squatting and smiling, holding up two peace signs, surrounded by two other people, one in a white and blue sporty outfit and the other in a black suit, outdoors on grass.

A group of five people, including children and adults, sitting on the grass at an outdoor event in a park with floral decoration and trees in the background.

Outdoor concert scene framed by a floral arch with a group of musicians performing on stage and an audience seated on the grass.

Three young girls outdoors in a garden with flowers, one sitting and two standing. The girl standing on the right holds a small item in her hand and a brown paper bag in her other hand. The girl on the left has glasses and a big smile, and the girl i

Two women stand outside among wildflowers and greenery, each holding a string instrument: one holds a violin, the other a cello. They are smiling and dressed in casual clothing, with a floral arch behind them.

Two women smiling outdoors, one with glasses and a blue jacket, the other with short blonde hair and a grey sweater, in a park with trees in the background.

A woman with shoulder-length black hair and bangs speaking into a microphone at an outdoor event. She is smiling and wearing a dark blazer and a black shirt, with a silver necklace. In the background, there are musicians, including a young woman play

A group of five people, mostly women and one man, planting flowers outdoors in a garden or park, with one woman watering the plants with a yellow watering can.

Group of people at an outdoor event under a canopy, serving or receiving food and drinks.

Group of five young people standing outdoors, smiling, with two in the front making peace signs.

Photography by Alaisdair Smith

Top-down view of empty paper coffee filters arranged in a box.

Wildflower Meadow Planting
May 2024

Person wearing black gloves holding a handful of freshly harvested onions and shallots.

First planting
December 2023

Please donate to support the Flower Memorial