Canongate

Category

Library Item

Item no

19194

Title

Canongate

Artist / maker

Channing, William

Date

1854

Size

24.9 x 17.4 cm

Type

Pencil work

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

This timber-fronted house stood on the north side of the Canongate and was known as Oliver's Land. It was probably erected in the mid 16th century. It is since demolished.

The Canongate is the section of Edinburgh's Royal Mile running from the junction with Jeffrey Street to a roundabout almost immediately outside Holyrood Palace.

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

Homes > Residential buildings > Tenements

People > Adults > Women

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Transport > Infrastructure > Pavements

Transport > Infrastructure > Roads

Transport > Infrastructure > Tunnels

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