Burns' Mausoleum renovated

The Mausoleum of the famous Dumfries poet Robert Burns has been renovated after months of repair work. It is now available for public viewing once more.

Robert Burns was originally buried in St Michael's Churchyard, Dumfries, in a simple grave marked only by a plain stone slab. In 1803 Dorothy and William Wordsworth visited Dumfries and had difficulty in even finding the grave. Burns' admirers believed this was an insufficient memorial to the poet.

In 1813 his friend, John Syme formed a committee and launched an appeal to build a mausoleum in his memory. One of the subscribers was the Prince Regent, later George IV.

After a public advertisement, 50 designs were received and the plans of T F Hunt, a London architect and Peter Turnerelli, a sculptor, were eventually approved. On the 19th September 1815 Burns’ body was exhumed and placed in the new mausoleum.