View of the Old City Wall (The Flodden Wall)

Category

Library Item

Item no

3023

Title

View of the old city wall (The Flodden Wall) at Bristo Street.

Description

Part of the Flodden Wall in Edinburgh. Crates and boxes are on top of a corrugated iron shed. A sign for John Donald & Co spans the breadth of a cobblestone road. Some of the walls are white washed.

Artist / maker

Chrystal, Francis M.

Date

1917

Size

11.3 x 14.7 cm

Type

Photograph

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

Annotation on reverse reads 'This part was in line with that which was demolished for extensions to the Royal Scottish Museum.'

The Flodden Wall was built around Edinburgh following the Battle of Flodden in 1513. Subsequent military incursions into Edinburgh showed the wall offered little practical defence to the city. Substantial sections of the wall are still visible in the Vennel, close to the Grassmarket, and on the Pleasance as it nears the Cowgate.

Bristo Street ran from Chapel Street to the present day Bristo Place, previously its southernmost section. The section of the street from Bristo Place to Chapel Street was destroyed in the development of Bristo Square in 1982.

The word cobble has been used here to help with searching, an alternative term is sett. Sett stones describe both the type of stone and the method in which they are used.

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Related subjects

Business > Advertising > Advertisements

Business > Service industry > Trade premises

Military > Military facilities > Forts and fortifications

Places > Edinburgh areas > Old Town

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

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