June 29th, 2017: Scottish Monument

[xoxoxoBruce]

Lost Edinburgh

Installing each of the monument’s twelve colossal Doric columns presented a huge challenge. Each section required the brute force of 12 horses and 70 men to haul the blocks of stone from out of Craigleith Quarry and up to the summit of Calton Hill more than 3 miles away.

Craigleith, Edinburgh

Craigleith (Scottish Gaelic: Creag Lìte) is a district of west Edinburgh, Scotland. Its name comes from various forms of Craig of Inverleith or rock or hill of Inverleith. Much of the Craigleith sandstone was used to build the old and new town houses in Edinburgh as well as many famous buildings including Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace and the statue of Nelson on Nelson's Column in London. Because of its particular hardness, Craigleith Sandstone was also favoured for cutting stones used in the making of cut glass during the Victorian era.