Melville Monument, Edinburgh facts for kids

The Melville Column at St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, erected in 1821

The Melville Monument is a 150-foot high monumental column. One of the most prominent memorials in Edinburgh, it commemorates Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, whose statue surmounts the column.

The Category A listed column dominates St Andrew Square, in the heart of the New Town which Dundas helped to establish. It was erected in 1821, 14 years after his death. The architect was William Burn. The statue was added in 1828. The plaque at the base of the statue says the monument was paid for by officers and men of the Royal Navy.

Conservation

In 2008 the Melville Monument was restored as part of the Twelve Monuments Project, a joint initiative of Edinburgh World Heritage and the City of Edinburgh Council.

In culture

Jack Docherty's short story "Statuesque", centred on this statue, was broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on 28 June 2020 in its Short Works series of stories inspired by current events.

Images for kids

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  Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville by Thomas Lawrence

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  Vice Admiral Sir William Johnstone Hope, who led the campaign for a monument to Dundas among his naval colleagues

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  The early second-century Trajan's Column in Rome, which William Burn used as the basis for his design of the Melville Monument

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  The balance crane used by Robert Stevenson in the construction of the Bell Rock Lighthouse; at Stevenson's recommendation, J. & J. Rutherford used a similar crane to construct the Melville Monument.

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  The Melville Monument terminates the view east along George Street in an engraving of 1829.

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  The Melville Monument seen from the Scott Monument, showing its position relative to the Firth of Forth

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  The base of the Melville Monument

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  The top of the Melville Monument, showing the capital and statue