A View of the New-bridge of Edinburgh

Category

Library Item

Item no

5410

Title

A view of the new-bridge of Edinburgh, with the adjacent buildings of the Old and New-Town. From the west

Description

Cattle are grazing between the Old Town and Princes Street in Edinburgh. A bridge between the two areas is visible in the background. Tenement buildings are at either side.

Artist / maker

Elphinstone, John

Engraver

Unknown

Date

1740

Size

20.3 x 31 cm

Type

Engraving

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

This image is taken from a volume in our collections entitled, "Fifteen Views of the most remarkable buildings of the City of Edinburgh by the Honorable J. Elphinstone" which unfortunately is not complete or in its original condition.
The images from this volume are credited to John Elphinstone although there is some uncertainty around the authorship of some of the pictures. The first three in the volume, (‘A view of the new-bridge of Edinburgh, with the adjacent buildings of the Old and New-Town’, ‘A view of the abby - church in ruins, from the north west’ and ‘A view of St. Roques - Church in ruins from the north east’) have a slightly different feel and style to the rest of the images and the image of the original North Bridge pre-dates the bridge itself.
For further information, please view the exhibition page for The "most remarkable buildings of the city of Edinburgh" by the Honorable J. Elphinstone.

The original North Bridge was completed in 1772 to provide access from Edinburgh's Old Town to the planned New Town development in the north of the city. It was widened in the 1870s to accommodate increased traffic, and was finally rebuilt between 1894-7 alongside the development at Waverley. Midway along the bridge there is a memorial to men of the King's Own Scottish Borderers killed in the Boer War. Its even gradient was designed to make it suitable for tramcars.

Exhibitions with this item

Other views of this item

Related images

Related subjects

Animals > Mammals > Cattle

Places > Edinburgh areas > Old Town

Places > Edinburgh areas > Princes Street

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Transport > Infrastructure > Stone bridges

(55°57′4″N, 3°11′38″W)

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