Edinburgh Castle (2)
I'm now more or less over Nicolson Square. Most of the major buildings in the nearer distance belong to the University of Edinburgh, including the domed McEwan Hall off to the left.
The castle of Edinburgh, like quite a number of others across Scotland, stands on a volcanic plug - the core of a 350 million year old volcano. During the Ice Ages, the area was swept by glaciers, flowing east into the North Sea. The land to the west of the plug was scoured by ice, however on the east side, the terrain was protected by the plug, leaving a ridge and creating what geographers like to call 'a crag and tail'.
The 'tail' is marked in the photo above by the spire of The Hub and the tower of St Giles' Cathedral, which both stand beside the Royal Mile, the street that extends from the castle, all the way down the tail to Holyrood Palace. There isn't actually a street called the Royal Mile, it is a collection of streets (Lawnmarket, High Street, Canongate) that formed the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh.
Edinburgh is not a big city, as cities on this overpopulated planet go, but its mediaeval predecessor was tiny by comparison. From the Royal Mile axis, the town spread for a short distance down the north (far) side of the 'tail', but expansion in that direction was limited by the steep slope and a loch, the Nor' Loch, more on which later. Westward and eastward, the town was constrained respectively by the castle and the royal palace of Holyrood. Only southward was expansion possible in those early days, and that was only possible if you were prepared to live outside the questionable protection of the town walls. (The only other direction that expansion was possible of course, was upwards, which is why Edinburgh has traditionally had such high tenement buildings. It still does - although many of the old tenements were destroyed in the Great Fire of Edinburgh in 1824.)
The earliest known town wall on this, the south side, was the 15th century 'King's Wall', and passed from just below the castle, across the hillside, only just below St Giles' Cathedral.
The city having grown beyond the King's Wall, a new wall was hurriedly built following the Scot's defeat at the Battle of Flodden, in expectation of the arrival of an English army - still know as the Flodden Wall. It enclosed Greyfriars Kirk and the area of the Old College of the University of Edinburgh - both of which I have labelled on the photo.
In the 17th century, a final expansion was made when the area later occupied by George Heriot's Hospital (later School) was built. This section of wall is known as the Telfer Wall, named after John Taillefer, the master-mason responsible for its construction.
Anyway, onwards and upwards! I'm not going to write much more about the town, there's much too much to say about the castle!
Edinburgh Castle (2)
I'm now more or less over Nicolson Square. Most of the major buildings in the nearer distance belong to the University of Edinburgh, including the domed McEwan Hall off to the left.
The castle of Edinburgh, like quite a number of others across Scotland, stands on a volcanic plug - the core of a 350 million year old volcano. During the Ice Ages, the area was swept by glaciers, flowing east into the North Sea. The land to the west of the plug was scoured by ice, however on the east side, the terrain was protected by the plug, leaving a ridge and creating what geographers like to call 'a crag and tail'.
The 'tail' is marked in the photo above by the spire of The Hub and the tower of St Giles' Cathedral, which both stand beside the Royal Mile, the street that extends from the castle, all the way down the tail to Holyrood Palace. There isn't actually a street called the Royal Mile, it is a collection of streets (Lawnmarket, High Street, Canongate) that formed the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh.
Edinburgh is not a big city, as cities on this overpopulated planet go, but its mediaeval predecessor was tiny by comparison. From the Royal Mile axis, the town spread for a short distance down the north (far) side of the 'tail', but expansion in that direction was limited by the steep slope and a loch, the Nor' Loch, more on which later. Westward and eastward, the town was constrained respectively by the castle and the royal palace of Holyrood. Only southward was expansion possible in those early days, and that was only possible if you were prepared to live outside the questionable protection of the town walls. (The only other direction that expansion was possible of course, was upwards, which is why Edinburgh has traditionally had such high tenement buildings. It still does - although many of the old tenements were destroyed in the Great Fire of Edinburgh in 1824.)
The earliest known town wall on this, the south side, was the 15th century 'King's Wall', and passed from just below the castle, across the hillside, only just below St Giles' Cathedral.
The city having grown beyond the King's Wall, a new wall was hurriedly built following the Scot's defeat at the Battle of Flodden, in expectation of the arrival of an English army - still know as the Flodden Wall. It enclosed Greyfriars Kirk and the area of the Old College of the University of Edinburgh - both of which I have labelled on the photo.
In the 17th century, a final expansion was made when the area later occupied by George Heriot's Hospital (later School) was built. This section of wall is known as the Telfer Wall, named after John Taillefer, the master-mason responsible for its construction.
Anyway, onwards and upwards! I'm not going to write much more about the town, there's much too much to say about the castle!