Edinburgh Castle from the Cowgate

Category

Library Item

Item no

1955

Title

Edinburgh Castle from the Cowgate

Description

Edinburgh Castle sits on the Castle Rock. The rounded half-moon battery with its gun loops can be seen. At the base of the Castle Rock are the shops and taverns of the Grassmarket. In the foreground are the roofs and buildings of the Cowgate.

Artist / maker

Malcolm, George

Date

1926

Size

16 x 21 cm

Type

Photograph

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

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.

The Cowgate runs from its junction with St Mary's Street (formerly St Mary's Wynd) and the Pleasance to the Grassmarket. It was the route by which cattle were driven into town from outside Edinburgh. The Cowgate Port was a gateway through the Flodden wall (City Wall).

Reproduced by kind permission of the Edinburgh Photographic Society

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Related subjects

Homes > Residential buildings > Castles and palaces

Homes > Residential buildings > Houses

Places > Edinburgh areas > Old Town

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh