The Castle, from the Vennel, Edinburgh

Category

Library Item

Item no

18671

Title

The Castle. from the Vennel, Edinburgh

Description

Edinburgh Castle sits on a rocky outcrop. In the Grassmarket below there are many houses and the street is crowded with people, carts and horses.

Artist / maker

Shepherd, Thomas Hosmer

Engraver

Redaway, J

Date

1829

Size

11.8 x 15.3 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.

Edinburgh Castle is perhaps the city's most famous landmark. It stands on top of the remaining core of an extinct volcano. Excavations suggest the site was inhabited by Bronze Age man as early as 900 BC, and was fortified by Iron Age man roughly 2000 years ago. The oldest part of the present day Castle is St Margaret's Chapel, built in the early 12th century. The Castle holds the Honours of Scotland and more recently has welcomed back the Stone of Scone otherwise known as the Stone of Destiny.

The Vennel is a narrow street in Edinburgh leading from West Port near the Grassmarket to Heriot Place near George Heriot's School. 'Vennel' is a Scots word meaning 'steep lane'.

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Related subjects

Animals > Mammals > Horses

Homes > Residential buildings > Castles and palaces

Homes > Residential buildings > Tenements

Places > Edinburgh areas > Old Town

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Transport > Land > Carts and wagons

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