New High School, Calton Hill

Category

Library Item

Item no

18661

Title

New High School, Calton Hill, from the Canon-gate church yard, Edinburgh

Description

The New Royal High School building on Calton Hill is viewed fron the Canongate graveyard. The High School is built on the lower slopes of Calton Hill in a neoclassical Greek inspired design with many pillars and a central portico as part of its facade. On top of Calton Hill, the tower of Nelson's Monument can be seen. Below in the Canongate there is a row of houses with smoke coming out of their chimneys. In the graveyard a woman stands with one child in her arms, and another by her side. In front of her on the path is a man carrying a shovel.

Artist / maker

Shepherd, Thomas Hosmer

Engraver

Henshall, J

Date

1829

Size

9.7 x 15.5 cm

Type

Engraving

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

This image comes from 'Modern Athens', a book of engravings based on drawings by Thomas Shepherd published in 1829. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries Edinburgh was growing rapidly. The popular neoclassical architectural style of the time was inspired by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and Edinburgh was nicknamed 'Athens of the North'. Shepherd's engravings celebrate the beauty of Edinburgh and show many notable buildings and streets both within the city, and further afield.

The history of the Royal High School dates back to the twelfth century when it is believed to have been founded as a seminary within Holyrood Abbey. The running of the school was taken over by the town council during the sixteenth century. Over the course of its history the school moved between many different buildings. In the 1820s the school was housed at Infirmary Street, but due to population growth the site was no longer suitable, and new premises were sought in the prestigious New Town. The resulting building on Calton Hill was designed by the architect Thomas Hamilton and built between 1825-9. It was built in the neoclassical Greek Doric style that was popular at the time, inspired by the 5th century AD Greek Temple of Hephaestus. The site was used by the Royal High School until 1968 when the School moved to Barnton and became a comprehensive school.

The building has been a prominent, but underused, landmark in Edinburgh for many years, and in the 1970s and 1990s was proposed as a possible site for a Scottish Parliament. However, in 2021 it was announced that the building would become home to St Mary's Music School as part of plans for a new world-class centre for music education and public performance for the benefit of Scotland. The Hidden Door festival took over the building in June 2022 for their ten day arts and music festival.

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Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Chimneys

Architecture > Architectural features > Columns

Architecture > Architectural features > Roofs

Architecture > Monuments > Memorial monuments

Education > Educational facilities > Schools

Homes > Residential buildings > Tenements

Landscape > Land > Hills

Places > Edinburgh areas > Calton

Places > Edinburgh areas > Calton Hill

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

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