Planning for the Picturesque: Thomas Hamilton's New Roads to the Old Town, 1817–1858

ISSN： 1755-1641

Source： Architectural Heritage, Vol.20, Iss.1, 2009-11, pp. : 33-53

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Abstract

The culture of ‘Improvement’ in eighteenth-century Edinburgh survived well into the first half of the nineteenth with a new emphasis on the picturesque potential of buildings, roads and bridges. Thomas Hamilton (1784–1858) was a crucial figure throughout this later period. Hamilton's most important contributions involved the new approaches to the Old Town by George IV Bridge and King's Bridge. He probably produced his first plan for the south approach in 1817, later collaborating with William Burn to produce a unified scheme for both approaches in 1824. He also worked on proposals for the Mound in 1822 and 1830, making a substantial contribution to a debate on the future of this area which also involved both Alexander Trotter and Alexander Nasmyth. All of Hamilton's proposals took considerable inspiration from Picturesque theory and from similar developments elsewhere, notably those of John Nash in London. While King's Bridge was completed with little difficulty, George IV Bridge became controversial and could only be finished by heavily compromising the design, especially that for the junction of the new road with the Royal Mile. The uncompleted scheme involved a grand new library for the Faculty of Advocates at the junction which, had it been built, would have completely changed the appearance of the Old Town.