Edinburgh Castle. General view from Grassmarket

Description Edinburgh Castle. General view from Grassmarket

Date c. 1870

Collection Papers of Erskine Beveridge, antiquarian, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland

Catalogue Number ED 2406

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 747771

Scope and Content Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, from the Grassmarket Edinburgh Castle, former fortress, royal residence of the kings of Scotland, military barracks, prison and ancient monument, stands high on a precipitous crag in a commanding and almost impregnable site overlooking the city. The oldest part of the castle dates from the 12th century, and most of the buildings within its walls date from the 16th century onwards. This photograph, taken c.1889 from the Grassmarket, is by Erskine Beveridge. The castle is dominated on its east side by the massive semi-circle of the Half Moon Battery (right), a great artillery defence built in 1574. To its immediate left, above the sheer drop of the eastern face of the crag, is the palace block, a late 15th or early 16th century building that housed the royal apartments. On the south side of the crag (left) is the great hall of King James IV, once the seat of the Scottish Parliament and later used for state banquets. After the death of King James V in 1542, the castle was abandoned as the royal residence in Edinburgh in favour of Holyrood Palace. However, in 1566, Mary Queen of Scots took up a brief residence in the castle in order to give birth to her son, the future King James VI of Scotland who was later to become King James I of England after the Union of Crowns in 1603. In 1617 the role of the castle as a royal residence was briefly re-established when King James VI returned to Scotland to hold court in the palace block, part of which was remodelled for the occasion. However, the role was merely symbolic as the king slept at Holyrood Palace. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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