National Monument, Edinburgh
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The National Monument of Scotland, on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, is Scotland's national memorial to the Scottish soldiers and sailors who died fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. It was intended, according to the inscription, to be "A Memorial of the Past and Incentive to the Future Heroism of the Men of Scotland". The monument dominates the top of Calton Hill, just to the east of
Princes Street Princes Street ( gd, Sràid nam Prionnsan) is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three ...
. It was designed during 1823–6 by
Charles Robert Cockerell Charles Robert Cockerell (27 April 1788 – 17 September 1863) was an English architect, archaeologist, and writer. He studied architecture under Robert Smirke. He went on an extended Grand Tour lasting seven years, mainly spent in Greece. H ...
and William Henry Playfair and is modelled upon the Parthenon in Athens. Construction started in 1826 and, due to the lack of funds, was left unfinished in 1829. This circumstance gave rise to various nicknames such as "Scotland's Folly", "Edinburgh's Disgrace", "the Pride and Poverty of Scotland" and "Edinburgh's Folly".


Proposals

As early as 1816, the
Highland Society of Scotland The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) was founded in Edinburgh in 1784 as the Highland Society of Edinburgh. The Society had its root in 1723 when the Society of Improvers of the Knowledge of Agriculture in Scotland was ...
called for the construction of a national monument to commemorate the fallen in the Napoleonic Wars. Initially The Mound was considered as a site, but was rejected in favour of Calton Hill. In January 1822, a proposal was put forward to 'erect a facsimile of the Parthenon' at a cost of some £42,000. The appeal found support amongst many prominent Edinburgh residents such as Sir Walter Scott, Henry, Lord Cockburn and Francis, Lord Jeffrey. The leading man behind the campaign to model the new monument specifically on the Athenian Parthenon was
Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and 11th Earl of Kincardine (; 20 July 176614 November 1841) was a British nobleman, soldier, politician and diplomat, known primarily for the controversial procurement of marble sculptures (known as the Elgin Ma ...
, who had controversially removed many of the temple's sculptures (now known as the Elgin Marbles) a decade earlier and brought them to Britain. In July 1822 the ''Royal Association of Contributors to the National Monument of Scotland'' was incorporated by an Act of Parliament. The foundation stone was laid, amid great pomp and ceremony, the following month. Sixteen months after the initial appeal, only £16,000 had been found with the possibility of a £10,000 grant from Parliament. In 1826, the building was finally commissioned and work began. The builder contracted to execute the work was Messrs William Wallace & Son. Originally, the building was planned to have extensive
catacomb Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etymology and history The first place to be referred ...
s in the area supporting the main structure, to provide a burial place for significant figures, intended as a "Scottish Valhalla". A minute of the Royal Association in 1826 stated that the building was:


Laying of the foundation stone

The foundation stone, which weighs 6 tons, was laid on 27 August 1822, during the
visit of George IV to Scotland The visit of George IV to Scotland in 1822 was the first visit of a reigning monarch to Scotland in nearly two centuries, the last being by King Charles II for his Scottish coronation in 1651. Government ministers had pressed the King to bring ...
. The
Duke of Hamilton Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Dukedom of Rothesay held by the Sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the premier peer of Sco ...
(the most senior non-royal
Scottish noble The Peerage of Scotland ( gd, Moraireachd na h-Alba, sco, Peerage o Scotland) is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Union, ...
and the
Grand Master of Scotland This is a list of Grand Master Masons of the Grand Lodge of Scotland: # 1736–1737: William St Clair of Roslin # 1737–1738: George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie # 1738–1739: John Keith, 3rd Earl of Kintore (G.M. of England; 1740) # 1739 ...
) led a procession of masonic lodges, royal commissioners and other dignitaries from Parliament Square to the top of Calton Hill. The procession was escorted by the
Scots Greys The Royal Scots Greys was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1707 until 1971, when they amalgamated with the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards) to form the Royal Scots Dragoon Guard ...
and the
3rd Dragoons Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...
. The deposition of the inscription plates in the stone was accompanied by cannon salutes from
Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...
, Salisbury Crags,
Leith Fort Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...
and the royal squadron on
Leith Roads Leith Roads is a stretch of water off the coastal town of Leith, Scotland. The waters extend about two miles (3 km) offshore and provide a generally safe anchor, protected from the gales as they are, by Inchkeith. The English landscape painter ...
.


Ideas for completion

Early proposals for completion work tended to focus on following the original plans; however, during the early 20th century several alternative plans were proposed: * as a monument to Queen Victoria (1901) * as a monument commemorating the 1707 Act of Union with England (1907) * as a new Scottish National Gallery (1907) * as a Scottish Parliament building (1908) * as a memorial to those who fell in the Great War (1918, George Washington Browne) Subsequent attempts to 'complete' the National Monument have never borne fruit for reasons of either cost or lack of local enthusiasm. A proposal in 2004 met with a mixed reception. The monument was repaired in December 2008, repositioning one of the stone lintels that had moved out of alignment. The cost was £100,262.Edinburgh World Heritage, National Monument
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Protection

The National Monument was classified as a Category A Listed building in 1966. It is not a scheduled monument.


References


Further reading

*


External links


Archiseek - National Monument



'A Building from which Derived "All that is Good". Observation on the Intended Reconstruction of the Parthenon on Calton Hill' by Marc Fehlmann in the online art magazine Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide
{{Buildings and Structures in Edinburgh 1829 establishments in Scotland Buildings and structures completed in 1829 Calton Hill Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh Listed monuments and memorials in Scotland Military of Scotland Monuments and memorials in Edinburgh Napoleonic Wars Scotland Scottish military memorials and cemeteries Unfinished buildings and structures