Collections

Proposal for the Nelson Monument, Calton Hill

Architect: Nasmyth, Alexander, HRSA · 1758-1840

Proposal for the Nelson Monument, Calton Hill

Following Lord Horatio Nelson's naval victory against the French at the Battle of Trafalgar on 1805-10-21, in which he was mortally wounded, there was…

Following Lord Horatio Nelson's naval victory against the French at the Battle of Trafalgar on 1805-10-21, in which he was mortally wounded, there was an outpouring of national pride across Great Britain which resulted in subscriptions being raised, almost immediately, for the erection of Monuments in his memory.

By the start of 1806 Committees had been established in Dublin, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Liverpool, with the foundation stone of the Glasgow monument, on Glasgow Green, being laid later that year. The most famous of these, that in Trafalgar Square in London, was not erected until 1840.

The present work appears to be Nasmyth's original proposal for the Edinburgh Monument. The Caledonian Mercury newspaper in its issue of 1806-03-06 reported; "At a meeting [held on 1806-03-03] of the Committee for erecting the Monument to Lord Nelson, there was laid before them an engraving of the Intended Building to be erected on the Calton Hill together with another showing the effect it would have from Princes Street, both of which were unanimously approved of.....There is no reason to doubt that he foundation stone will be laid in the course of a few weeks."

By 1806-04-01 it was reported in the Scots Magazine that £1200 had already been raised in public subscriptions.

However Nasmyth's proposal was to prove too expensive and as the Nelson's Pillar Minute Book [Edinburgh City Archives] reported on 1807-07-30, the Committee agreed to go with the alternative proposal by Robert Burns [sic Robert Burn (1752-1815) Edinburgh architect/mason] which came in about £700 less than Nasmyth's proposal. It is Burn's design that graces Calton Hill to this day, despite a general agreement that Nasmyth's was the stronger design.

Kirsten Carter McKee, in her 2018 book, Calton Hill and the Plans for Edinburgh's Third New Town, cites the snubbing of Nasmyth's design as recounted by his son James in James Nasmyth, Engineer. An Autobiography by James Nasmyth and Samuel Smiles, London, 1897; "My father supplied a design, which was laid before the monument committee. It was so much appreciated that the required sum was rapidly subscribed. But as the estimated cost of this erection was found slightly to exceed the amount subscribed, a nominally cheaper design was privately adopted. It was literally a job. The vulgar, churn-like monument was thus thrust on the public and actually erected and there it stands to this day, a piteous sight to beholders."

A copy of the engraving after this watercolour was sold by an Harrogate-based antique dealer in 2023; https://www.sellingantiques.co.uk/939602/nelson-engraving-of-the-monumentcalton-hilledinburgh/