Gravestone of John Mackay Wilson, Churchyard
GRAVESTONE OF JOHN MACKAY WILSON, CHURCHYARD, CHURCH ROAD
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1393565
- Date first listed:
- 08-Dec-2009
- List Entry Name:
- Gravestone of John Mackay Wilson, Churchyard
- Statutory Address:
- GRAVESTONE OF JOHN MACKAY WILSON, CHURCHYARD, CHURCH ROAD
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1393565
- Date first listed:
- 08-Dec-2009
- List Entry Name:
- Gravestone of John Mackay Wilson, Churchyard
- Statutory Address 1:
- GRAVESTONE OF JOHN MACKAY WILSON, CHURCHYARD, CHURCH ROAD
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- GRAVESTONE OF JOHN MACKAY WILSON, CHURCHYARD, CHURCH ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Northumberland (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Berwick-upon-Tweed
- National Grid Reference:
- NT 99540 52262
Reasons for Designation
This head stone of 1835 is designated for the following principal reasons:
* Its imposing scale and well-executed neo-classical decoration * Mackay Wilson is a figure of national significance for his `Tales of the Borders' volumes * It has Group Value with the adjacent church, in whose graveyard it is located * It is unusual to see an epitaph refer to published works in this period
Details
BERWICK UPON TWEED
622/0/10056 CHURCH ROAD 08-DEC-09 TWEEDMOUTH GRAVESTONE OF JOHN MACKAY WILSON, CHUR CHYARD
II Headstone erected 1835 to John Mackay Wilson (1804-1835)
MATERIALS: sandstone, now painted
A tall rectangular monument situated in Tweedmouth Cemetery, with fluted pilasters flanking the epitaph, carrying an entablature with a frieze of floral motifs. The stone has a stepped parapet, formerly surmounted by a stone urn, now missing. The rear is of similar form but largely plain. The inscription reads: Erected/to the Memory/of/JOHN MACKAY/ WILSON/who died 2nd. October 1835, /in the 31st. year of his age. / This Stone Erected to his/ Memory by his Widow/SARAH WILSON. / The above/JOHN MACKAY WILSON/poet & author of /'The Tales of the Borders',/Born at Tweedmouth on 15, August. /1804.
HISTORY: John Mackay Wilson was born in Tweedmouth in August 1804 and died at the age of 31 in October 1835. He worked, with varying degrees of success, as a printer, lecturer in literature and as editor of the Berwick Advertiser. Towards the end of his life in 1834, Wilson published on a weekly basis `The Tales of The Borders', popular in Britain and America and which capitalised on the current taste for the traditional-looking Scottish stories created by Sir Walter Scott. Weekly circulation rose steadily from 2000 to 16000-17000. In all 48 numbers were published, comprising 73 tales including the part autobiographical 'The Poor Scholar'. The series was continued after Wilson's death by his brother and then extended by Alexander Leighton a contemporary Scottish literary figure of national significance.
SOURCES: ET. W. Bayne, `Wilson, John Mackay (bap. 1804, d. 1835), rev. H. C. G. Matthew, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29673, accessed 8 March 2009
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: This head stone to John Mackay Wilson of 1835, is designated for the following principal reasons:
* Its imposing scale and well-executed neo-classical decoration * Mackay Wilson is a figure of national significance for his `Tales of the Borders' volumes * It has Group Value with the adjacent listed church, in whose graveyard it is located * It is unusual to see an epitaph refer to published works in this period
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 506548
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Wilson, John Mackay, (2004)
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 11-Jun-2026 at 10:33:56.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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