Burns Monument Project

Specialist stone carvers have been at work, repairing and replacing some of the carved stone detail on the Burns Monument.

The Burns Monument is being restored as part of the Twelve Monuments Restoration Project, a joint initiative of Edinburgh World Heritage and the City of Edinburgh Council.

The Burns Monument dates to 1831 and was designed Thomas Hamilton, who was also the architect for the nearby Royal High School. It is designed like an ancient Greek temple, with highly ornate stone carving. Unfortunately its exposed position on the side of Calton Hill has worn away some this detail, and work started in spring 2009 to carefully repair and conserve the monument.

The tripod on the Burns Monument has an inscription on top, which was revealed for the first time during the restoration.  Tripods were mentioned by ancient writers as prizes or trophies, and so became an important feature of monuments in honour of famous people.

Supporting the tripod are winged lions which are mostly in good condition, but the top of one wing has been indented with new stone.

Some of the worst erosion has happened to the ‘entablature’, the mouldings and bands that lie horizontally above the columns. Here some of the fine detail has been eroded, and in places the stone has cracked and split.  The photograph shows where half of capital at the top of a column has been replaced with matching stone.

Jim Shields, Secretary of the Edinburgh& District Burns Clubs Association and Marketing Director of the Robert Burns World Federation , recently visited the monument to inspect progress.
 
"It was a wee bit scary climbing the scaffolding, but what a treasure of carvings awaited my eyes when starting from level three," said Jim. "I worked my way slowly down seeing the exquisite details which are normally hidden from public view. The stonemasons I spoke with were themselves amazed at the intricacy of the stonework and carvings, stating that they had never worked on such a beautiful restoration project."
 
"This progress quite thrilled me, as the Robert Burns World Federation will be holding their international conference in Edinburgh in September and we intend holding a ceremony of re-dedication in conjuntion with Edinburgh City Council and Edinburgh World Heritage, allowing fellow Burnsians from all over the world see the wonderful work carried out on this unique monument.”