The Jail Governor's House, Edinburgh

Category

Library Item

Item no

18650

Title

The Jail Governor's House, Edinburgh

Description

The Jail Governor's House stands on the side of Calton Hill, and is viewed from a vantage point that overlooks North Bridge and some of the surrounding area. The hillside is steep and rocky with patterns of boulders. A woman and child walk along the path. A man carrying a basket walks up the hill with his dog. The Jail Governor's House has a turret. Light beams through the clouds.

Artist / maker

Shepherd, Thomas Hosmer

Engraver

Wallis, W

Date

1829

Size

9.4 x 16.2 cm

Type

Engraving

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

This image comes from 'Modern Athens', a book of engravings based on drawings by Thomas Shepherd published in 1829. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries Edinburgh was growing rapidly. The popular neoclassical architectural style of the time was inspired by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and Edinburgh was nicknamed 'Athens of the North'. Shepherd's engravings celebrate the beauty of Edinburgh and show many notable buildings and streets both within the city, and further afield.

Calton Gaol was designed by Archibald Elliot as an alternative to Edinburgh's historic Tolbooth. It was located immediately to the south of Regent Road, overlooking Waverley Station. A Bridewell, or house of correction, designed by Robert Adam already stood on the site. The prison was opened in 1817, and closed in 1925 when the limited size of the premises necessitated a move to Saughton, the location of the present day prison. It was demolished, save the Governor's House which still stands, to make way for the Government Buildings of St Andrew's House.

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Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Arches

Crime and punishment > Crime and punishment facilities > Prisons

Landscape > Land > Hills

Places > Edinburgh areas > Calton

Places > Edinburgh areas > Calton Hill

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

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