The top of the Nelson Monument

Category

Library Item

Item no

7205

Title

View from the top of the Nelson Monument towards Salisbury Crags and Arthur's Seat

Description

In the foreground is part of the Nelson Monument on Calton Hill, Edinburgh. It consists of a crenelated wall with metal bars and a time-ball. Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags rise above the buildings below.

Artist / maker

MacLean, Kevin

Date

2007

Size

25.4 x 19 cm

Type

Digital image

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

In 1853 the 'Time-Ball' was installed on top of the Nelson Monument on Calton Hill. It drops every day at exactly 1pm, originally to give a time signal to ships in the Firth of Forth. From 1861 onwards this signal was accompanied with the firing of the One O'Clock Gun from Edinburgh Castle.

Calton Hill is situated at the east end of Princes Street in Edinburgh. It rises to a height of 108 metres and is another of the city's hills created by volcanic activity. Several monuments stand on the hill. Most prominent amongst these are the Nelson Monument, built in the shape of a telescope, and the unfinished National Monument, modelled on the Parthenon in Athens.

Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags form an unmistakable part of Edinburgh's skyline. Rising 247 metres above sea level Arthur's Seat is one of five visible volcanic vents left over from volcanic activity in the area 354 million years ago. The peak's name is possibly a corruption of the gaellic Ard-na-saith, meaning height of arrows, indicating a past usage as a practice place for archery. It is also known as the Lion's Head. Salisbury Crags are an igneous sill, composed of cooled magma during the period of volcanic activity and later shaped by glacial erosion. The steep cliffs of the crags provided natural defence for early human inhabitants. Traces of a stone rampart dating from the early part of the first millennium BC have been found there. More recently James Hutton's studies of the Crags led to the release in 1788 of his 'Theory of the Earth', the work which established him in the eyes of many as the father of modern geology.

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Related subjects

Landscape > Land > Hills

Places > Edinburgh areas > Holyrood

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

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