Calton Hill; National Monument of Scotland (Edinburgh, Scotland) : General view, looking out over the Firth of Forth from Salisbury Crags

Creator:

Playfair, William, 1759-1823

Published/Created:

Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Calton Hill, central Edinburgh, east of New Town
1823-1826

Materials:

sandstone

Notes:

The monument dominates the top of Calton Hill, just to the east of Edinburgh's New Town. Construction started in 1826 and the building was left in its unfinished state in 1829. It is Scotland's national memorial to the Scottish soldiers and sailors who died fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. Playfair was asked to collaborate with Charles Robert Cockerell in the creation of an exact facsimile of the Parthenon to crown Calton Hill. Its verisimilitude extended to the masonry, whose precision was to rival in sandstone the marble original. Financial constraints brought it to a dead halt in a few years, and for Playfair it remained "a striking proof of the pride and poverty of the Scots"; however, the experience provided the final polish to his architectural education, and its exacting construction set a standard of excellence from which he never deviated.

Variant Titles:

National Monument of Scotland

Topics:

Architecture -- Britain -- 19th century -- (YVRC)
Architecture -- Scotland -- 19th century -- (YVRC)

Period/Style:

Greek Revival
Nineteenth century

Culture:

British
Scottish

Accession Number:

1A2-SC-E-CH-A8

Coordinates:

+55.954722-3.181806

Genre:

architecture (AAT)
war memorials (AAT)

Format:

Image

Content Type:

Sculptures, Models, & Architecture

Rights:

Copyright Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc
The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.

Access Restrictions:

Yale Community Only

Digital:

buildings; memorials; built works; monuments architecture; military or war; Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815

Source Creator:

Gilchrist, Scott

Source Title:

Archivision Addition Module Seven

Source Created:

2878 Chamonix, Montreal QC
Archivision, Inc.

Source Note:

Purchase, Visual Resources Collection, May, 2011; photographer Scott Gilchrist

Yale Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Digital Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Local Record Number:

4349

OID:

10472510

PID:

digcoll:1820228