Tending to History

When I spoke to Edward Playfair this Wednesday, the Cathedral gates had been bolted shut for the week and tourists took photos of its tilted gravestones through an iron fence. For years, Playfair has managed the preservation of his ancestors’ graves in St Andrews and across Scotland. As it turns out, keeping a gravestone upright is trickier than you might think.

Though Playfair called me from his home in Tennessee, his family has a long history in St Andrews. If his last name rings a bell, that’s because you’ve probably seen it plastered on the names of bars, streets, and even student consultancy groups in town. According to Playfair, his family has been based in this little corner of Fife since the sixteenth century. They’ve been here almost as long as the University has, and have left nearly as much of a mark on the town. The public library? Say thank you to Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair, provost of St Andrews from 1842 to 1861. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club? It would’ve fallen out of use in the 1850s if not for him, so all you golf addicts should show some gratitude. Another Playfair ancestor, Reverend Dr James Playfair, served as Principal of the United Colleges. 

While the family’s descendants are now scattered far and wide across the world, “a lot of us still consider St Andrews home,” said Playfair, who lived in Fife as a child, attended the University as an undergraduate, and whose son is now a first-year. He usually visits the town at least twice a year, both because he loves it and because it takes time to make sure his ancestors’ graves are still in good shape.

“There’s one monument in particular that’s of significance for the history of the town, [and] the history of golf,” said Playfair. “All these graves are tangible links to people who have gone before us and made the town what it is, and if they’re not looked after, they’re going to be lost.” 

So what does it actually take to keep a gravestone from ‘crumbling away’? In the Playfairs’ case, it takes a charitable trust, five trustees, a 200-person family Facebook group, the local stonemason, and occasional council grants. Even though they’re inside the Cathedral grounds, “Fife Council basically makes it clear that it’s the family’s responsibility to maintain the stones,” said Playfair. “Even though it’s in a scheduled monument, part of a National Heritage Site of Significance, the stones will just be left to disintegrate if someone doesn’t look after them.” As timelessly ancient as cemeteries may seem, stones will quickly begin to fall into disrepair without occasional upkeep. If, like the late Playfairs, you’re lucky enough to have relatives who know where you’re buried, they will probably have to spend a few hundred pounds per year to keep your gravestone standing. 

Most people aren’t so lucky. Their descendants move away, and relatives spread out across the world. If you know exactly where your great-great-great-great-grandmother is buried, you’re one of a rare few. Even within the St Andrews Cathedral grounds, weather and time have worn the names off many gravestones or degraded them entirely — according to Playfair, there are three Open Champions buried in the Cathedral cemetery who no longer have grave markers at all. 

“I know it isn’t to everybody, but history, to me, is important,” said Playfair. “If it isn’t tended to, it’ll just crumble away and be forgotten,” so Playfair’s taken up the task himself. He’s just the latest in a long line of Playfair caretakers. Over a hundred years ago, a small trust was set up to maintain the family gravesites. The funds dwindled as time went on, and Playfair’s father did the best he could with what was left until passing on the responsibility to his son. Now, Playfair hopes this new trust will be more successful in keeping the family grave sites pristine for years to come, especially as Historic Environment Scotland, which runs the St Andrews Cathedral, recently announced that it isn’t their responsibility to fix falling headstones. 

If you’ve wondered why so many graves in the Cathedral cemetery are caged in metal fencing, it’s because no families have come forward or been able to pay to restore them. The roped-off gravestones have been deemed unstable by Historic Environment Scotland. In 2015, a child was killed by a falling headstone in a Glasgow cemetery. Since then, organisations such as Historic Environment Scotland have focussed on the safety of their sites. They’ve identified which stones might cause trouble, but don’t have the funding to fix them. Instead, they’ve told the families it’s their job. The problem with this? “Only one family has come forward” to claim a headstone that it wasn’t already taking care of, said Playfair. Even if families do discover the graves of long-lost relatives, it can cost £500-£1,500 to fix a wobbly gravestone, and not everyone can afford to do that.

The problem lies in the fact that Historic Environment Scotland can’t afford it either. As Playfair explained, these sites are “mainly funded by politicians, and heritage and history are not high on many politicians’ to-do list.”

When Playfair visits St Andrews next week, he plans to talk to local officials and experts to try and create a larger effort towards preserving our cemeteries. He hopes that, eventually, the tilting gravestones will be righted, the cemetery will stop being closed off, and the town “will realise why these sites are so important.”

Illustration by Isabella Abbott