Edinburgh Castle from Bruntsfield Links

Category

Library Item

Item no

1902

Title

Edinburgh Castle from Bruntsfield Links

Description

An image of Edinburgh Castle as viewed from Bruntsfield Links. The barracks and esplanade leading down to Castle Hill can be seen. The tops of houses are just visible behind a border of trees. On the Links are many people playing golf.

Artist / maker

Ewbank, John Wilson

Engraver

Lizars

Date

1825

Size

13.6 x 17.4 cm

Type

Engraving

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

This image has been chosen for the Edinburgh - Past and Present Exhibition by John Leighton, Director General of the National Galleries of Scotland - "Edinburgh has such a rich architectural heritage that it is easy to overlook the spaces in between, the parks, the gardens and open areas that allow the city to breathe and which frame its most famous views. Today, Brunstfield Links offers a slightly less rural prospect than in this picture but it remains a magnificent view of the castle. When I was student in Edinburgh I passed the Links every day and it was this view that became etched in my memory in the decades that I lived away from the city" John Leighton.

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.

Bruntsfield links form a south-westerly continuation of the Meadows. Golf has been played there since possibly as early as the 15th century, with a club formally established in 1535.

Exhibitions with this item

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Related images

Related subjects

Homes > Residential buildings > Castles and palaces

Places > Edinburgh areas > Old Town

Places > Edinburgh areas > Tollcross

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Sport and leisure > Activities > Golf

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