Regent Bridge is a road bridge in Edinburgh, Scotland, where the A1 road enters the New Town from the east and passes over a hollow near Calton Hill. The bridge was built in the 19th century, in the neoclassical style as the medieval city was modernised and expanded to the north and east.
In the early nineteenth century, the inconvenient access to Edinburgh by the great London road had long been a subject of general regret. To enter the city from the south, the route ran through narrow and inconvenient streets, an approach that was considered unsuited to the general elegance of the place. In 1814, however, a magnificent entrance was commenced from Calton Hill to Princes Street over a deep ravine called Low Calton [1] that was then occupied by old and ill-built streets. To connect Calton Hill with Princes Street, all these streets were swept away, and an elegant arch, called Regent Bridge, was thrown over the hollow, making the descent from Calton Hill into Princes Street easy and agreeable. A new jail to be built on Calton Hill had also been promoted at this time and a new bridge would make access more suitable. [2]
In 1813, Sir John Marjoribanks, the then Lord Provost of Edinburgh, revived a plan to build a jail on the slopes of Calton Hill. [3] In order to access this, open up the slopes of Calton Hill to development and shorten the road to East Lothian and England, he presented the plan to build Regent Bridge to the City magistrates on 1 March 1814 with a projected cost of about £20,000 [3] and backed up by a feasibility study by the engineer Robert Stevenson. [4] Although complicated (part of the old Calton burial ground had to be moved, a fifty foot valley had to be bridged, solid rock had to be blasted and buildings at the east end of Princes Street had to be demolished [2] ) the project was accepted and Waterloo Place on top of the bridge was designed by Archibald Elliot. [5] Construction under the direction of Robert Stevenson began in 1816 and the bridge was finished in 1819. [1] It is a major example of Greek Revival architectural work of the time. [1] The arch is semicircular, and fifty feet (15 m) wide. At the north front it is forty-five feet (13.716 m) in height, but at the south front it is sixty-four feet two inches (19.56 m), because the ground declines to the south. The roadway is formed by a number of reverse arches on each side. The great arch is ornamented on the south and north by two ornamental triumphal open arches, [5] supported by elegant Corinthian columns. The whole property purchased to open the communication to the city by this bridge cost £52,000, and the building areas sold for the then immense sum of £35,000. The street along the bridge was called Waterloo Place, as it was laid in the year of the Battle of Waterloo. Regent Bridge was officially opened on 18 August 1819 during the visit of Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg to Edinburgh. [1]
John Rennie FRSE FRS was a Scottish civil engineer who designed many bridges, canals, docks and warehouses, and a pioneer in the use of structural cast-iron.
Robert Stevenson, FRSE, FGS, FRAS, FSA Scot, MWS was a Scottish civil engineer, and designer and builder of lighthouses. His works include the Bell Rock Lighthouse.
Sir John Robert Steell was a Scottish sculptor. He modelled many of the leading figures of Scottish history and culture, and is best known for a number of sculptures displayed in Edinburgh, including the statue of Sir Walter Scott at the base of the Scott Monument.
Thomas Hamilton was a Scottish architect, based in Edinburgh where he designed many of that city's prominent buildings. Born in Glasgow, his works include: the Burns Monument in Alloway; the Royal High School on the south side of Calton Hill ; the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh; the George IV Bridge, which spans the Cowgate; the Dean Orphan Hospital, now the Dean Gallery; the New North Road Free Church, now the Bedlam Theatre; Cumstoun, a private house in Dumfries and Galloway; and the Scottish Political Martyrs' Monument in Old Calton Cemetery, Edinburgh.
The National Monument of Scotland, on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, is Scotland's national memorial to the Scottish soldiers and sailors who died fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. It was intended, according to the inscription, to be "A Memorial of the Past and Incentive to the Future Heroism of the Men of Scotland".
Calton Hill is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the city.
The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Street, facing Edinburgh Castle and the Old Town across the geological depression of the former Nor Loch. Together with the West End, the New Town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside the Old Town in 1995. The area is also famed for the New Town Gardens, a heritage designation since March 2001.
Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, is traditionally said to have been "built on Seven Hills", in an allusion to the seven hills of Rome. While there is considerable room for debate as to which hills are included and excluded from the seven, seven possibilities are listed in an old rhyme:
Clan Marjoribanks is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands.
Archibald Elliot was a Scottish architect based in Edinburgh. He had a very distinctive style, typified by square plans, concealed roofs, crenellated walls and square corner towers. All may be said to derive from the earlier local example of Melville Castle by James Playfair. Many of his works have been demolished.
Regent Terrace is a residential street of 34 classical 3-bay townhouses built on the upper south side of Calton Hill in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. Regent Terrace is within the Edinburgh New and Old Town UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1995.
The Old Calton Burial Ground is a cemetery in Edinburgh, Scotland. It located at Calton Hill to the north-east of the city centre. The burial ground was opened in 1718, and is the resting place of several notable Scots, including philosopher David Hume, scientist John Playfair, rival publishers William Blackwood and Archibald Constable, and clergyman Dr Robert Candlish. It is also the site of the Political Martyrs' Monument, an obelisk erected to the memory of a number of political reformers, and Scotland's American Civil War Memorial.
Governor's House is a building situated on the southernmost spur of Calton Hill, beside the south-east corner of Old Calton Burial Ground, in Edinburgh, Scotland. It looks out over Waverley Station, the Canongate and Holyrood Park to the south.
New Calton Burial Ground is a burial ground in Edinburgh. It was built as an overspill and functional replacement to Old Calton Burial Ground and lies half a mile to its east on Regent Road in Edinburgh, Scotland, on the south-east slopes of Calton Hill. On its southern edge it attaches to the north-east edge of the Canongate in the Old Town. It lies on a fairly steep south-facing slope with views to Holyrood Palace, the Scottish Parliament Building and Arthur’s Seat.
Royal Terrace is a grand street in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the north side of Calton Hill within the New Town and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1995, built on the south side of a setted street, facing the sloping banks of London Road Gardens, formerly Royal Terrace Gardens, with views looking north towards Leith and the Firth of Forth.
Carlton Terrace is a residential street in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located on the east side of Calton Hill, at the eastern extremity of the New Town, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1995.
London Road Gardens are one of the collection of New Town Gardens located close to the city centre of Edinburgh in the New Town, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1995. They occupy a long strip of land from east to west along the lower northern slope of Calton Hill, with an area of 4.37 hectares. The gardens are notable for their large, old trees including limes and some fine, surviving elms, also spring flowers, particularly daffodils.
Greenside is a district and parish in Edinburgh between Calton Hill and the New Town.