Elgin

Category

Library Item

Item no

24819

Title

Elgin

Description

This image shows Elgin Cathedral in Moray.

Artist / maker

De Cardonnel, Adam

Date

1788

Size

7.0 x 9.0 cm

Type

Etching

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

The British 19th century engraver and archaeologist Adam de Cardonnel was an educated man who practiced for a short while as a surgeon however his family's wealth gave him the leisure to indulge his interest in antiquities and numismatics. At the end of 1780 he was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland where he also served as curator from 1782 to 1784. Cardonnel later went on to produce work titled as 'Numismata Scotiae' which was published in Edinburgh in 1786 and 'Picturesque Antiquities of Scotland' which was published in London in 1788. Soon after this Adam De Cardonnel took over his cousin - Hilton Lawson's - estates in Chirton and Cramlington in Northumberland where he then served as sheriff for the county in 1796 and became knows as 'Adam De Cardonnel-Lawson'. Cardonnel spent his last days in Bath and after dying at age 73 he was buried at Cramlington in June 1820.

Begun in 1224, Elgin was the principal church of the bishops of Moray. It lost its roof shortly after the Protestant Reformation of 1560, and later its central tower fell. But the greatest single disaster was the collapse of the central tower in 1711, taking with it a large section of the nave. The chapter house remained in reasonable condition and was used as a meeting room for Elgin trades people.

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Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Towers

Architecture > Architectural features > Tracery windows

Homes > Derelict buildings and excavation sites > Ruins

Places > Scotland > Moray

Places > United Kingdom > Scotland

Religion > Religious facilities > Cathedrals

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