Because it is thoct gude that thair be na buriall within the Kirk, and that the kirk-zaird is nocht of sufficient rowme for bureing of the deid, and for esdrewing of the savour and inconvenientis that may follow thairupon in the heit of somer, it would be providit that ane buriall place be maid farrer from the myddis of the town, sic as in the Greyfreir zaird and the somyn biggit and maid close.

[2]Because it is thought beneficial that there should be no more burials within the church [ie St Giles], and because that kirkyard is not thought to have sufficient room for burying the dead, and taking into consideration the smell and inconvenience in the heat of summer, it would be provided [by the council] that a burial place be made further from the middle of town, such as in Greyfriars yard, and the same [should be] built up and made secure.The Kirkyard was involved in the history of the Covenanters.

During the early days of photography in the 1840s the kirkyard was used by David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson as a setting for several portraits and tableaux such as The Artist and The Gravedigger.

The area was open to public view until around 1990, but was thereafter locked by the City of Edinburgh Council to stem persistent vandalism and use by drug users.

The area is accessible during the day by special arrangement with the guides at Greyfriard Kirk[5] during their opening hours and at night by going on a City of the Dead Tour where the Black Mausoleum can be visited.

The grave of a Pentland Hills Shepherd, "Auld Jock" (John Gray), where the dog famously slept for 14 years, lies on the eastern path, some 30m north of the entrance.

These were leased and protected bodies for long enough to deter the attention of the early nineteenth-century resurrection men who supplied Edinburgh Medical College with corpses for dissection.

The kirkyard displays some of Scotland's finest mural monuments from the early 17th century, rich in symbolism of both mortality and immortality, such as the Death Head, Angel of the Resurrection, and the King of Terrors.

In 2003, the distinctive domed tomb of Sir George MacKenzie was entered by two teenage boys, aged 17 and 15, via a ventilation slot in the rear (now sealed).