Cowgate, North side

Category

Library Item

Item no

19087

Title

Cowgate, North side

Description

North side shops and houses at entrance to Alison's Close.

Artist / maker

Channing, William

Date

1854

Size

26.0 x 19.6 cm

Type

Wash drawing

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

Alison's Close led north from the Cowgate, close to the foot of Candlemaker Row. Its entrance was situated adjacent to the Central Public Library.

The Cowgate runs from its junction with St Mary's Street (formerly St Mary's Wynd) and the Pleasance to the Grassmarket. Cattle were driven along this route when entering Edinburgh from grazing land outside the city. The Cowgate Port was a gateway through the Flodden Wall situated at the street's east end.

William Channing's drawings and paintings from the bound volume of his 'Sketches in Edinburgh', give an artist's impression of tenement life in the mid 19th century. His drawings are glimpses into the past down the narrow Closes and alleyways of the Old Town. We see higgledy-piggledy houses and tenements towering skywards, laundry hanging from windows across the walkways and local characters talking in the streets.

Channing's delightful sketches are particularly valued for their representation of the architectural elements and details of buildings and closes now much changed or long since disappeared.

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Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Chimneys

Architecture > Architectural features > Doors and doorways

Architecture > Architectural features > Roofs

Architecture > Architectural features > Stairways

Architecture > Architectural features > Windows

Business > Service industry > Shops

Furnishings > Equipment > Washing lines

Homes > Residential buildings > Tenements

People > Adults

Places > Edinburgh areas > Cowgate

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Transport > Infrastructure > Cobbled streets