View of Edinburgh Castle

Category

Library Item

Item no

1808

Title

View of Edinburgh Castle from the Grey Friars [Greyfriars] Church Yard

Description

Edinburgh Castle rises above Greyfriars Churchyard. The fortification with half-moon battery has gun loops in its walls and a large flag flying. A dirt track road leads to the Castle. In the foreground is Greyfriars Churchyard. Headstones sit up against a wall with smaller gravestones situated further inside the graveyard amongst trees. Houses are located around the outside of the burial ground. One of these buildings has a pantiled roof.

Artist / maker

Griffiths, Moses

Engraver

Mazell, P.

Date

1775

Size

15.9 x 20.9 cm

Type

Engraving

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

Edinburgh Castle is perhaps the city's most famous landmark. It stands on top of the remaining core of an extinct volcano. Excavations suggest the site was inhabited by Bronze Age man as early as 900 BC, and was fortified by Iron Age man roughly 2000 years ago. The oldest part of the present day Castle is St Margaret's Chapel, built in the early 12th century. The Castle holds the Honours of Scotland and more recently has welcomed back the Stone of Scone otherwise known as the Stone of Destiny.

Greyfriars Kirkyard, or Graveyard, is the burial ground of Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh. It houses the graves of many notable historical figures including the poet Allan Ramsay, the geologist James Hutton and the architect William Adam. In 1679 several hundred Covenanters were imprisoned in the Kirkyard awaiting trial.

Find out more about visiting Edinburgh Castle at Historic Environment Scotland.

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Related subjects

Homes > Residential buildings > Castles and palaces

Places > Edinburgh areas > Old Town

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

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