Edinburgh from Craigleith Quarry

Category

Library Item

Item no

6626

Title

Edinburgh from Craigleith Quarry

Description

The deep chasm of Craigleith Quarry, Edinburgh fills the foreground of this engraving. Lots of very small figures can be seen working in the quarry and at its base is a cottage with a smoking chimney. Edinburgh Castle and the Castle Rock rise up beyond the edge of the quarry and are surrounded by various church steeples. To the far left the Nelson Monument on Calton Hill can be seen. In the backgrouns stands Arthur's Seat.

Artist / maker

Ewbank, John Wilson

Engraver

Lizars, W. H.

Date

1825

Size

20.7 x 27 cm

Type

Engraving

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

The site of Craigleith Quarry is situated about 2 miles northwest of the centre of Edinburgh. The quarry operated from the 17th Century and provided much of the sandstone for the construction of New Town. It was filled in the 1930's and is now the site of Craigleith Retail Park.

The city of Edinburgh is built around seven hills, mostly volcanic in origin. It is bordered to its north by the Firth of Forth, and to its south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh has been Scotland's capital since the mid fifteenth century, but evidence of human habitation on the site stretches back some 7000 years. The central city is made up of the Old Town area immediately surrounding the Castle and the Royal Mile, and the New Town to the north, an important example of eighteenth and nineteenth century neoclassical town planning. These central areas were designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. Other more modern developments, from the nineteenth century to the present, radiate from this central area incorporating many older villages. Edinburgh attracts more tourists than any other city in the UK except London, especially during the annual festivals in August.

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Related subjects

Architecture > Monuments > Memorial monuments

Homes > Residential buildings > Castles and palaces

Manufacturing Industry > Manufacturing facilities > Quarries

Places > Edinburgh areas > Craigleith

Places > Edinburgh areas > Old Town

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh