Boyd's Close, Canongate

Category

Library Item

Item no

19170

Title

Boyd's Close, Canongate

Artist / maker

Channing, William

Date

1850

Size

25.3 x 19.0 cm

Type

Pencil work

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

Boyds Close - entered from east side of St. Mary's Wynd. It was Boyd's Close where Dr Johnson lodged in 1773. Demolished by the Improvement Act of 1866.

The 'Closes' of Edinburgh's Old Town are narrow passages branching off at right angles from the main streets. They provide access to the tenement buildings, and often to small shared courtyards. Many Closes also act as shortcuts between Old Town's main streets

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 > Doors and doorways

Architecture > Architectural features > Roofs

Homes > Residential buildings > Tenements

Places > Edinburgh areas > Canongate

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Transport > Infrastructure > Alleys

Transport > Infrastructure > Closes

Transport > Infrastructure > Cobbled paths