Burns Mausoleum, Dumfries

In St Michael’s Kirkyard, a short distance from Robert Burns House, is the resting place of the poet. Initially Burns had been buried in a more modest plot in the kirkyard but on 19th September 1815, the poet’s body was exhumed and reinterred in a vault within this Greek-style temple.

Keys for the Mausoleum are available from Robert Burns House, t. 01387 255297

Site of the original grave of Robert Burns

On 25th July 1796 Burns was laid to rest in a grave near the perimeter of St Michael’s Kirkyard. Both the location and the plain stone grave slab were thought to be out of keeping with such an important figure and in 1813 a movement led by Burns’ close friend John Syme set about raising money for a mausoleum for the poet. On 18th September 1815 Burns’ body was moved to the new mausoleum. The original grave of the poet was reoccupied 10 years later by Mrs Joseph Elias Perochon, eldest daughter of Burns’ confidante, Mrs Frances Anna Dunlop.