Work starts on "ELIZA'S PATH"
The Friends has now authorised the contractor, Sam Barlow of Mooreworks, Lairg, Sutherland, to undertake work on the planned ornamented railing on "Eliza's Path" to the St Regulus Burial Ground.
The project has received a pledge of £2,000 from the Hugh Fraser Foundation, and we gratefull
y acknowledge this vital contribution to the provisional budget total of £15,000, which has enable the project to go ahead.
We have unofficially named the path for Eliza, Hugh and Lydia Miller's first born child who died in infancy, because of its special meaning for the family and their descendants; it is also the burial place of his great grandfather John Feddes, a burial vault of Clan Urquhart chiefs below the remnants of a medieval chapel, and the site of several folk tales.
Eliza's headstone
We show here the sketch plan design for the steel handrail, featuring decorative balusters every three metres. The recurring motif is the wild dog rose, chosen for its prevalence in Cromarty and in Highland folkore in general. A favourite flower of Robbie Burns, it is symbolic of purity, love and marriage.
Sam Barlow's design envisages a curved rail at the base, then rising straight up to the top of the slope, a length in all of some 16 metres. A hard-packed durable ground surface would be laid to just under half way up. The railing's base will incorporate a sign naming the burial ground, and a QR Code, from which visitors will be able to access info online about the place.
The official signage will state ST REGULUS BURIAL GROUND, and the info provided will give Eliza's story, and that of other graves including the Urquhart clan vault, as well as a brief history of this tranquil, beautiful place.
The St Regulus burial ground
