Unmarked grave holds more than 400 children

AROUND 400 children died at a Scottish orphanage run by nuns and were buried in a single unmarked grave, research has revealed.

Smyllum Park orphanage was run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, which has previously acknowledged that 158 were buried in compartments at a nearby cemetery.

However, research out by BBC Radio 4’s File on Four programme and the Sunday Post newspaper, including a trawl of more than 15,000 official records, has discovered that 402 babies, toddlers and children died at Smyllum between 1864 and when it closed in 1981.

Most of the children sent to live at the orphanage who died were buried in an unmarked mass grave at St Mary’s Cemetery.

The charity that ran Smyllum gave evidence to the ongoing Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry earlier this year and said that abuse allegations were a “mystery” with “no evidence” of mistreatment.

A total of 11,601 children passed through Smyllum Park between 1864 and 1981. Most of the deaths occurred between 1870 and 1930.

The Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul said in a statement: “We are Core Participants in the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry and are cooperating fully with that inquiry.”