Edinburgh, Calton Road, New Calton Burial Ground, Watchtower

The New Calton Burial Ground Watch Tower was photographed as part of the Threatened Buildings Survey. The New Calton Burial Ground was laid out in 1817 by Thomas Brown, Superintendent of City Works and opened to the public in 1820. The watch tower has a panoramic view of the burial ground and was, with its attendant guards, designed to deter grave robbers. The building is believed to have been constructed in 1820 and is a larger version of the watch tower built in Newington Burial Ground which is dated 1820. The New Calton Burial Ground Watchtower was placed on the Buildings at Risk Register in 2012.

3-storey circular, battlemented watch tower. Squared and coursed rubble with ashlar margins. Band courses. Some segmental-arched window openings to 3rd storey. Cantilevered, external stone curved staircase with metal banister, leading to entrance on 3rd storey. Polygonal stacks. Some windows boarded. Fire damaged.

Part of a well-designed burial ground on a particularly picturesque site overlooking the Old Town of Edinburgh and with a view across the Firth of Forth. Many of its monuments are finely designed with elaborate carvings. The watch tower is a good example of its type, positioned at the highest point of the graveyard for maximum effect. The graveyard is also notable for its distinctive terraced plan. The New Calton Cemetery was planned in 1817 and opened to the public in 1820. It was begun as a place to re-inter the remains which had been disturbed by the placing of Waterloo Place through the centre of the Old Calton Burial Ground (see separate listing). It is thought to have been laid out by the City Superintendent of Works, Thomas Brown and has planned terraces to the SW.

Grave-robbing was a particular problem in 18th and early 19th century Scotland as a means of providing corpses for medical dissection. It reached a peak in Edinburgh in the 1820s as the Medical Authorities made it compulsory to pass a course in practical anatomy in order to obtain a medical degree. Watchtowers were one way of trying to ensure that there was a deterrent, as someone would stay in the tower to keep watch over the fresh graves. (Historic Environment Scotland)