St Andrew's House and the Old Calton Burial Ground

Category

Library Item

Item no

7204

Title

View of St Andrew's House, the Old Calton Burial Ground, and Waverley Station

Description

St Andrew's House dominates the foreground of this image of central Edinburgh. Waterloo Place runs in front of the building and carries on into Princes Street. The Old Calton Burial Ground, North Bridge and Waverley Station can be seen to the left of the road. Edinburgh Castle and the Castle Rock towers above the Old Town.

Artist / maker

MacLean, Kevin

Date

2007

Size

25.4 x 19 cm

Type

Digital image

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

St Andrew's House stands on the site previously occupied by Calton Gaol, immediately to the south of Calton Hill. The building is currently used by the Scottish Executive.

The main part of the Old Calton Burial Ground stands immediately to south of Waterloo Place. The cemetery was bisected by the construction of that road in 1820, and the bodies disturbed by the work were moved to a new site a little way to the east. The Old Calton Burial Ground has several notable structures within it. The Emancipation Monument stands in memory of those Scottish-American soldiers fought for the Union during the American Civil War. There is also a monument to the celebrated philosopher David Hume. A large obelisk stands as a monument to those radical reformers, including Thomas Muir, who were tried, convicted and deported for sedition in 1793. In the wake of the French and American Revolutions Muir and his associates had been active in a widespread movement for political and social reform in Britain. The movement attracted alarm and extreme sanction from both the political establishment and conservative elements in society.

Edinburgh Waverley is the second largest mainline railway station in the UK. There were originally three stations on the site, serving three separate railway companies including the Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee Railway whose trains ran through a tunnel underneath Princes Street and New Town to another Station at Scotland Street. In 1866 North British Railway absorbed the other two companies and proceeded to amalgamate the three existing stations. Construction of this single station, much of which remains, was completed in 1874.

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Related subjects

Homes > Residential buildings > Castles and palaces

Places > Edinburgh areas > Calton

Places > Edinburgh areas > Old Town

Places > Edinburgh areas > Princes Street

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Religion > Religious facilities > Graveyards

Transport > Infrastructure > Railway stations

Transport > Infrastructure > Roads

Transport > Infrastructure > Stone bridges

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