The Watchtower

This Watchtower stands at the gateway to Duddingston Churchyard.

Until 1832, there was no legal method of procuring bodies for anatomical research and this led to the ghoulish activities of the 'Resurrectionists', who at night dug up newly buried corpses and sold them to dissecting rooms. Burke and Hare are the most infamous of these characters, although they were given to simply murdering their victims thus avoiding the effort of digging them up. As a result of these activities, the custom arose of 'watching' the Churchyard at night. The Watch Tower thus provided shelter for the two Church Elders who were required to watch the grave for twenty one days following an internment.