Edinburgh - Calton Hill and Broughton Travel Guides | Edinburgh | Sub Regions | Edinburgh - Calton Hill and Broughton

In the first few decades of the 19th century there were major exten- sions to the original New Town, spreading to the north, west and east, and all in keeping with the neoclassical theme. Perhaps the most interesting of these extensions is the area around Calton Hill, another of Edinburgh’s extinct volcanoes, which grew beyond the east end of Princes Street. The slopes of Calton Hill are covered with many fine buildings and it is probably these which earned Edinburgh the sobriquet ‘Athens of the North’. The eastern New Town is bordered by Broughton Street, heart of the city's gay scene and home to many of its hippest bars and clubs.

Sights

Calton Hill

Calton Hill is well worth climbing for some of the best views in the city. From the top, Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags seem so close you could almost reach out and touch them, and you can see the Pentland Hills to the south, along the Lothian coast to Berwick Law and across the bridges to Fife. The whole effect is astounding, especially the view up Princes Street to the Castle. The quickest route to the top starts from the east end of Princes Street, at the corner of North Bridge and Waterloo Place. Head up the north side of Waterloo Place, past the turning into Calton Hill on the left, and follow the steps, signposted Calton Hill, up to the left and then immediately right.

The monuments at the top of Calton Hill are also worth the climb. They form the four corners of a precinct and make for a strange collection. Most famous is the National Monument, built to commemorate the Scots who died in the Napoleonic Wars. The architect, Charles Robert Cockerell (1788-1863) intended it to be an imitation of the Parthenon in Athens and chose as his assis- tant the young William Playfair, who went on to design some of the city’s most notable imitations of Classical Greek architecture, such as the National Gallery of Scotland. The project was carried out on a massive scale and, not surprisingly, in 1822, three years after it had begun, the £24,000 raised for the project ran out with only 12 columns built. However, this was in keeping with the original contract drawing, so what we see today was the architect’s intention – a deliberate folly. Though it caused much controversy and was labelled ‘Scotland’s disgrace’, it did serve to inspire all subsequent building in the ‘Athens of the North’.

On the west side of the hill, overlooking the St James Centre, is the old Calton Hill Observatory, also built by Playfair in 1818. It was abandoned in 1894 when light pollution became too great, and relocated to Blackford Hill. The observatory build- ing was bought by the city council and renamed the City Observ- atory. Since 1953 it has been home to the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh. It is open most Friday nights, if the skies are clear enough, and visitors with an interest in astronomy are welcome (http://www.astronomyedinburgh.org). An earlier building was planned by James Craig, first architect of the New Town, but the money ran out and all that remains is castle-like Observatory House.

Southwest of the observatory is the Monument to Dugald Stewart (1753-1828), a Playfair construction commemorating an obscure University professor. Completing the quartet of monum- ents is Nelson’s Monument (Apr-Sep Mon 1300-1800, Tue-Sat 1000-1800; Oct-Mar Mon-Sat 1000-1500. £2.50), a 108-ft tower in the shape of an upturned telescope, built in 1816 to celebrate Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. It’s worth climbing to the top of the monument, for the panoramic views are even better. In the mid-19th century the Astronomer Royal for Scotland intro- duced a time signal for sailors at Leith. The five foot diameter ball still drops from the crossbars at the top of the Nelson Monument at precisely 1300 every day.

Calton Hill is the site of anarchic pagan festivities at the feast of Beltane in May, and at night it’s a popular cruising area for the nearby gay community.

Royal High School and Regent Terrace

On the southern slopes of Calton Hill, on Regent Road, is the old Royal High School, designed in 1829 by former pupil Thomas Hamilton. Designed integrally with the National Monument on Calton Hill to create an Edinburgh Acropolis, the Royal High School building is considered the finest Greek Revival building in Scotland and perhaps the one building which most justified the city’s nick- name. The Royal High is the oldest school in Scotland, dating back to the 12th century (the previous premises were near the Cowgate in the Old Town), and its long list of famous former pupils includes Robert Adam, Sir Walter Scott and Alexander Graham Bell. The school was moved in 1970 to the western outskirts of the city. The building had been proposed as the seat of the new Parliament when devolution of government for Scotland first seemed a reality back in the mid-1970s, but following the unsatisfactory referen- dum result plans were shelved. The building is now the Scottish HQ of the Crown Office. Almost opposite the former High School is the Burns Monument, erected in 1830 as a tribute to Scotland’s greatest poet, who died aged only 37. Beyond the old Royal High School building is Regent Terrace, a particularly fine example of the city’s New Town architecture, with its Doric porticoes and trellis balconies, designed by William Playfair in 1825. Regent Terrace leads into Carlton Terrace which curves round into Royal Terrace, a magnificent row of 40 houses.

St Andrew’s House and Old Calton Burial Ground

On the south side of Regent Road is St Andrew’s House, a massive art deco structure housing government offices, built on the site of Calton Jail. Until 1864, public executions were carried out on top of the jail, watched by crowds who stood to the south of the City Observatory. The only part of the jail that remains is the castellated Governor’s House, which looks on to the Old Calton Burial Ground. The cemetery contains Robert Adam’s tower built for the great empiricist David Hume, Thomas Hamilton’s obelisk to the political martyrs of 1793, and a memorial to the Scottish-American soldiers who fought in the American Civil War, complete with a statue of Abraham Lincoln. You may come across a mausoleum to Robert Burns, but this is for the architect of the Nelson Monument (see above) and not to be confused with the poet Robert Burns.

Broughton Street

Broughton Street and the streets around it form Edinburgh’s so-called ‘pink triangle’, heart of the city’s thriving gay scene. With an atmosphere redolent of New York’s East Village, Broughton Street is home to many of the city’s hippest bars, clubs, cafés and restaurants. On the corner of Broughton Street and East London Street is Mansfield Place Church, a late 19th-century neo Norman edifice, now famous as the site of Pre-Raphaelite murals by Phoebe Traquair, a leading light in the Scottish Arts and Crafts Movement. These murals were created by her over eight years (1893-1901), working alone seven days a week without pay, but they have suffered badly due to years of neglect. The church has been turned into offices but the murals are being restored for public display. Her work can also be seen on the walls of the Song School at St Mary’s Cathedral. At the top of Leith Walk, next to the Playhouse Theatre, is the new Omni Complex which opens in May 2003 and houses bars, restaurants, a cinema, hotel) and comedy club.

In the centre of the roundabout at the top of Leith Walk is the statue of Sherlock Holmes, the world’s most famous fictional detective. His creator, Arthur Conan Doyle, was born at 11 Picardy Place in 1859.

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