A Perspective View of the Front of Heriots Hospital

Category

Library Item

Item no

5417

Title

A perspective view of the front of Heriots Hospital

Description

The towers of George Heriot's Hospital stand behind walls in Edinburgh. The school has a central domed tower with an arched entrance beneath it. The wings on either side end with square towers. Walls section off parts of the grounds in front of the building and many people can be seen standing and talking. The ladies are wearing long, full dresses and the men have tri-corner hats and frock coats.

Artist / maker

Elphinstone, John

Engraver

Parr

Date

1740

Size

21.1 x 32.7 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.

George Heriot was a famous and wealthy Edinburgh Goldsmith and moneylender. When he died in 1624 he left a considerable sum of money to establish a school for the poor and parentless in Edinburgh. Construction of George Heriot's Hospital began in 1628 but was not finished until 1650. It was almost immediately appropriated by Cromwell for use as a military hospital. It resumed its role as a school and home for orphans in 1659. It later came to be known as George Heriot's School, and now operates as an independent mixed school.

Exhibitions with this item

Other views of this item

Related images

Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Clocks and clock towers

Education > Educational facilities > Schools

Places > Edinburgh areas > Tollcross

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

(55°56′43″N, 3°11′38″W)

Read how our collections have inspired people taking part in events, visits and community groups. Use the slider or navigation arrows to see more responses.