The Well House Tower, Edinburgh Castle

Category

Library Item

Item no

2028

Title

The Well House Tower, Edinburgh Castle

Description

The ruined Well House Tower of Edinburgh Castle sits beneath Castle Rock. A man with a pickaxe walks towards the ruin.

Artist / maker

Unknown

Engraver

Newton, J.

Date

1789

Size

14 x 18.6 cm 14.1 x 18.5 cm

Type

Engraving

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

The Well House Tower now stands in Princes Street Gardens, immediately below Castle Rock. It was built in 1362 to guard St Margaret's Well, one of Edinburgh's principal water sources.

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.

Find out more about visiting Edinburgh Castle at Historic Environment Scotland.

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Related subjects

Homes > Residential buildings > Castles and palaces

Homes > Residential buildings > Towers

Places > Edinburgh areas > Old Town

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

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