For the protection of the dead - data entry

I have spent the morning uploading, to Scran, images and associated data concerning grave robbing, an odd interest of mine.

Today's photograph is a screen shot showing the upload of material for the watch-house at banchory-Ternon on Royal Deeside. Watch-houses, looking like small cottages with windows overlooking the kirkyard, can be seen at the edges of old churchyards across Scotland. In the 18th and early 19th century, they were regularly used by grieving relatives to watch over a grave to prevent a newly-buried body being stolen for sale to the local anatomy school. Watch-houses usually had a small fireplace for the comfort of watchers during the long wintry nights. Some watch houses had gun loops in the wall overlooking the graveyard through which the occupants would occasionally fire a musket in order to deter the bodysnatchers.

The watch-house at Banchory Ternan, some 17 miles from Aberdeen, is a particularly splendid example. It is a circular, two-storied tower, the lower part probably being used as a sextant's store and the upper as a lookout. The upper floor is equipped with a fireplace and a window and below it, in the woodwork, there is a round hole through which a firearm could be discharged to discourage anyone intent on mischief. There is also a bell with which to raise the alarm. The date 1829 is incised in the stone above the bell.

Scran, part of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, aims to provide educational access to digital materials representing Scottish material culture and history. It is one of the largest educational online services in the UK supporting over 4,000 schools, libraries, colleges and universities. The learning resource service hosts over 360,000 images, movies and sounds from museums, galleries, archives and the media.