Nelson Monument, Calton Hill, Edinburgh
by Yvonne Johnstone
Title
Nelson Monument, Calton Hill, Edinburgh
Artist
Yvonne Johnstone
Medium
Photograph - Digitally Enhanced Photograph
Description
The Nelson Monument on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, Scotland was built between 1807 and 1816 to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
This unusual building plays a very valuable part in the overall aesthetic composition of Calton Hill, and is one of Edinburgh's most prominent landmarks. It also forms a dramatic termination of the vista down Princes Street from the West End.
It is also important for its association not only with the Battle of Trafalgar but for the part it has played in the history of timekeeping in the city.
It was intended that signals would be flown from the monument, which would be controlled and maintained by a signal officer and 5 disabled seamen, who would be accommodated in the base of the monument and possibly a cottage nearby. There would be public access to the viewing point at the top of the monument for a small entry fee, which would be used to pay for maintenance costs. By 1820, the base of the tower was at least partly used as a tea-room, with a variety of refreshments served; it was also used to host Nelson Dinners. The turnstiles (Norton's improved patent Abyssinian turnstile) in the lobby were installed in 1886.
In 1852/3, the time ball mechanism was installed at the top of the tower by Professor Charles Piazzi Smyth, the Astronomer Royal. It gave a visual signal that enabled the captains of ships anchored in the Firth of Forth to set their chronometers accurately without coming ashore. The time ball's mechanism was connected by an underground wire to a mean time clock in the City Observatory (later connected to the Blackford Observatory when the Royal Observatory moved from Calton Hill). Just before 1pm, the ball would be raised, and then exactly on the hour a signal was sent electrically via the wire, causing the ball to drop. In 1861, the "one o'clock gun" was installed at Edinburgh Castle, to provide an audible time signal in case bad weather prevented the ball being visible. The gun's clock was connected to the clock on Calton Hill by a 4,020-ft overhead wire. The time ball is no longer triggered automatically, but manually, by an operator who watches for the puff of smoke from the gun at the Castle.
Uploaded
June 10th, 2019
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