Edinburgh from Craigleith

Category

Library Item

Item no

11057

Title

Edinburgh from Craigleith

Description

A farmer ploughs a field at Craigleith, Edinburgh with his horses. A flock of birds follow the plough. Just beyond the field, Craigleith Quarry can be seen and beyond that the Edinburgh skyline. As well as many church steeples, Edinburgh Castle, Arthur's Seat and the towers of Stewart's Melville College can be seen.

Artist / maker

Johnston, Robert Brown

Date

1875

Size

37.4 x 54.3 cm

Type

Watercolour

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

The site of Craigleith Quarry is situated about two miles northwest of the centre of Edinburgh. The quarry operated from the 17th Century and provided much of the sandstone for the construction of New Town. It was filled in the 1930's and is now the site of Craigleith Retail Park.

The city of Edinburgh is built around seven hills, mostly volcanic in origin. It is bordered to its north by the Firth of Forth, and to its south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh has been Scotland's capital since the mid fifteenth century, but evidence of human habitation on the site stretches back some 7000 years. The central city is made up of the Old Town area immediately surrounding the Castle and the Royal Mile, and the New Town to the north, an important example of eighteenth and nineteenth century neoclassical town planning. These central areas were designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. Other more modern developments, from the nineteenth century to the present, radiate from this central area incorporating many older villages. Edinburgh attracts more tourists than any other city in the UK except London, especially during the annual festivals in August.

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Related subjects

Agriculture and fisheries > Landscape > Fields

Agriculture and fisheries > Processes > Ploughing

Homes > Residential buildings > Castles and palaces

Manufacturing Industry > Manufacturing facilities > Quarries

Places > Edinburgh areas > Craigleith

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh