St Bernard's Well, Water of Leith

Category

Library Item

Item no

18702

Title

St Bernard's Well, Water of Leith, Edinburgh

Description

St Bernard's Well stands next to the Water of Leith. The well consists of circular platform with a statue in the middle surrounded by pillars which hold up a domed roof. A man with a walking stick walks along a path beside the well. Trees line the banks of the river.

Artist / maker

Shepherd, Thomas Hosmer

Engraver

Allen, J B

Date

1829

Size

10.4 x 15.1 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.

St Bernard's Well is situated on the Water of Leith close to Stockbridge. The current surrounding structure was designed by Alexander Naismyth and built in the 1790's. It has a domed ceiling supported by ten columns covering a statue of the goddess Hygeia. Water from the mineral spring was popular for its supposed health giving properties from the mid 18th century until the wells closure in 1940.

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Related subjects

Landscape > Water > Rivers and streams

Landscape > Water > Wells

Places > Edinburgh areas > St Bernards

Places > Edinburgh areas > Stockbridge

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Plants > Trees > Trees

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