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Edinburgh, Princes Street, Scott Monument
Commemorative Monument (19th Century)
Site Name Edinburgh, Princes Street, Scott Monument
Classification Commemorative Monument (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Princes Street Gardens; Sir Walter Scott's Monument
Canmore ID 74114
Site Number NT27SE 481
NGR NT 25585 73904
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/74114
First 100 images shown. See the Collections panel (below) for a link to all digital images.
- Council Edinburgh, City Of
- Parish Edinburgh (Edinburgh, City Of)
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District City Of Edinburgh
- Former County Midlothian
Built between 1840-4, this monument commemorates Sir Walter Scott. A statue of the author sits beneath the arches of a 61m high Gothic steeple, the upper parts of which carry statues of characters from his novels. Designed by the architect George Meikle Kemp, its construction was funded by public subscription.
Information from RCAHMS (SC) 8 August 2007
NT27SE 481 25585 73904
Architect: George Meikle Kemp
Builder: David Lind
Other designs for the Scott Monument
Obelisk by W H Playfair 1835, to be 200 ft high on base of 44ft. Designed monument to go in 9 different places
Rickman & Mussey 1835 - not executed
Details transcribed from NMRS Architecture Catalogue. Correct spelling is Rickman and Hussey. Information from RCAHMS (SC) 6 May 2008
Erected 1840 - 1844 at a cost of nearly 16,000 [pounds] after designs by George M Kemp. The white marble statue of Scott is by Sir John Steell and was place in position in 1846.
Stained glass designed by David Roberts, prepared by Mr Ballentine
NT27SE 481 2558 7390
Designs also submitted by David Cousin, ?McGibbon & Ross
George Heriot by Peter Slater
REFERENCE - National Archives of Scotland
J M W Turner 1775-1851
Monument to the Memory of Sir Walter Scott
Abbotsford Appeal
Turner agrees to serve on the committee of the Abbotsford Appeal particularly as he has a 'personal regard created by my having been to Abbotsford'.
1832 GD 157/2038/5
Site of the Monument to Sir Walter Scott
'Abbotsford itself, is, in my opinion, the best and only architectural monument which can with propriety belong to that part of the country'.
1832 GD 157/2023/13
1843-1845
Few letters relating to the monument to Sir Walter Scott, Edinburgh
(Sir Thomas Dick Lauder and Lord Melville).
GD 224/511/9
National Library of Scotland
MS 15974 Note of subscription etc
MS 1631 ff 29-39 "Report on the Proc of the Sub-committee appointed 28 Nov 1833, to procure designs for the Monument to Sir Walter Scott"
The Times, 2 August 1991 - article describes murals on timber hoarding surrounding monument (missing at time of upgrade - 16.5.1997)
Kindred Spirits in Scotland: Turner & Scott by G E Finley
The Connoisseur August 1973 - text and illustrations - (missing at time of upgrade - 16.5.1997)
NMRS Print Room/Rare Books No 33
A Eddington Edinburgh and The Lothians 1904
Opposite p19 Photograph of Princes Street, showing Scott Monument, 'Princes Street, Edinburgh (Looking West)' 'Photo by A.A. Inglis'
p22 Photograph - in text - of Scott Monument 'Scott Monument, Princes Street' 'Pike & Co' 'Photo by Marshall Wane & Co'
Article George Kemp and his Monument RIAS Quarterly 1929 No 29 p. 1
Article The Scott Monument and its Architect Architectural Review Pamphlet July 1944 p27
The Scott Monument Guide 1949 - text and photographs D5/E(P)
NLS Fettercairn Papers, Mss Acc, 4796 Box 57 - letter concerning subscription for/and building of monument
J G Dunbar Building Chronicle Vol 2 p139 Dec 1st 1856 - text
Unexecuted (1835)
Other designs for the Scott Monument
Obelisk by W H Playfair 1835, to be 200 ft high on base of 44ft. Designed monument to go in 9 different places
Design (1835 - 1844)
Construction (1840 - 1844)
Erected 1840 - 1844 at a cost of nearly 16,000 [pounds] after designs by George M Kemp. The white marble statue of Scott is by Sir John Steell and was place in position in 1846.
Stained glass designed by David Roberts, prepared by Mr Ballentine
NT27SE 481 2558 7390
Photographic Record (1840 - 1844)
Photographic Record (1860)
Photographic Record (1900 - 1930)
Photographic Record (1950)
Photographs of Jenners Department Store taken by George Hay.
Photographic Record (1970)
Photographic Survey (1989)
Project (1997)
The Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (http://www.pmsa.org.uk/) set up a National Recording Project in 1997 with the aim of making a survey of public monuments and sculpture in Britain ranging from medieval monuments to the most contemporary works. Information from the Edinburgh project was added to the RCAHMS database in October 2010 and again in 2012.
The PMSA (Public Monuments and Sculpture Association) Edinburgh Sculpture Project has been supported by Eastern Photocolour, Edinburgh College of Art, the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, Historic Scotland, the Hope Scott Trust, The Old Edinburgh Club, the Pilgrim Trust, the RCAHMS, and the Scottish Archive Network.
