C O N T E X T 1 4 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 7 51 The classical antecedents for these are examined, including their association with James Craig’s 1776 urban plan for Edinburgh’s new town, and in the context of the city’s pretension to be ‘the Athens of the north’. Romantic overtones are implicit in the 1815 Glenfinnan Monument in the Western Highlands, commemorating the anniversary of the final Jacobite rising in 1745; and theWallace Monument (1861–69) near Stirling, immortalising a national folk hero whose fictionalised portrayal in the 1995 filmBraveheart impacted on the 1997 Scottish devolution referendum. Rodger relates baronial-style antecedents for both: unconventionally for the Glenfinnan Monument, more so for theWallace Monument. Medieval associations are explicit in the historical novels of Walter Scott; romantic, in the poems of Robert Burns.Whereas statues to both are found in towns and cities across Scotland, The Hero Building focuses on major monumental structures, the later examples of which are extravagant variants of baronial and gothic revival. Of these, the soot-blackened Scott Monument (1840–44) on Princes Street, Edinburgh, is the most familiar; the now largely demolished Burns Monument (1878–79) in Kay Park, Kilmarnock, possibly the most quixotic as well as least familiar. An exception to the main narrative in The Hero Building, but in the conservation interest, the sorry saga of the neglect, vandalism and arson, followed by substantial collapse and only partial reconstruction of the Kilmarnock Monument to Scotland’s national bard, is presented as a salutary tale of the importance of appreciating and safeguarding historic structures while standing, not lamenting their loss. The Hero Building includes a chapter devoted to what are fairly described as private vanity projects – the Hamilton Mausoleum (completed in 1854) in South Lanarkshire, and the unfinished McCaig Tower (1897–1902) at Oban on the west coast – both of which were later abandoned by the families that commissioned them and became public monuments. The last major structure to feature in Rodger’s excellent and original survey is Robert Lorimer’s Scottish National War Memorial (opened in 1927) at Edinburgh Castle, the scale and design of which evoked protracted opposition at the time, including from the Cockburn Association. As The Hero Building relates, negotiation included the advice that ‘Any building on Edinburgh Castle should not be in a definite style either Gothic or Classic but that it should be rugged, rigorous, and depending for its effect not on fine details, but on mass light and shade’. Not bad for advice proffered early in the design stage! Dennis Rodwell, architect-planner, consultant in cultural heritage and sustainable urban development Architecture Conservation Heritage Acanthus House, 57 Hightown Road, Banbury, OX16 9BE Tel: 01295 702600 www.acanthusclews.co.uk Please see our website for galleries and much more information www.toppandco.com enquiry@toppandco.com • +44 (0)1347 833173 We create and restore fine architectural metalwork for some of the most architecturally sensitive sites in the world. We thrive on the demanding technical challenges set by the heritage sector. We implement the National Heritage Ironwork Group (NHIG) Conservation Principles. Specialists in Historic Ironwork Restoration and Replication
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