The Parliament House, Edinburgh

Category

Library Item

Item no

18678

Title

The Parliament House, Edinburgh

Description

The curved building of Parliament House in Parliament Square, Edinburgh. The three storey Georgian building has an arched walkway at its base and a balustrade runs round the edge of the roof. The roof is decorated with classical relief panels and statues of sphinxes. Wealthy people stroll around the square and admire the statue of Charles II on a horse. To the right of the statue a stone mason works on some stone with a mallet.

Artist / maker

Shepherd, Thomas Hosmer

Engraver

Watkins, W

Date

1829

Size

10.1 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.

A statue of Charles II on horseback stands in Parliament Square. It was erected in 1685.

Parliament Square in Edinburgh is situated immediately to the north of the former Parliament House, now home to the Court of Justiciary and the Court of Session. It was formed along with Parliament House around 1640 on the kirkyard of St Giles. This burial ground, which largely fell out of use in the mid sixteenth century, is the resting place of the prominent religious reformer John Knox. The appearance of the buildings surrounding the square was substantially altered in the 19th century by the addition of frontages designed by Robert Reid.

Parliament House stands immediately to the south of St Giles Kirk. It was constructed between 1632-40, at Charles I's instruction, to house the Scottish Parliament. It continued in this role, with the interruption of Cromwell's interregnum, until the Act of Union in 1707. It now houses the Court of Session. The original frontage of the building is concealed behind an early 19th Century facade designed by Robert Reid. Inside the building the original Parliament Hall is notable for its oak hammerbeam roof and a large stained glass window.

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Architecture > Architectural features > Arches

Architecture > Architectural features > Quadrangles (Courtyards)

Architecture > Architectural features > Roofs

Architecture > Architectural features > Windows

Architecture > Monuments > Statues

Government > National > Parliaments

Places > Edinburgh areas > Old Town

Places > Edinburgh areas > Royal Mile

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh