The Mound
Former name(s) | The Earthen Mound |
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Length | 380 m (1,250 ft) (including The Mound and North Bank Street) |
Postal code | EH1 |
Coordinates | 55°57′0.28″N 3°11′44.13″W / 55.9500778°N 3.1955917°W |
North (bottom) end | Princes Street |
South (top) end | Bank Street/Royal Mile |
Construction | |
Completion | 1827 |
The Mound is an artificial slope and road in central Edinburgh, Scotland, which connects Edinburgh's New and Old Towns. It was formed by dumping around 1,501,000 cartloads of earth excavated from the foundations of the New Town into Nor Loch, which was drained in 1765 and forms today's Princes Street Gardens.
History
The construction of the Earthen Mound, as it was originally called, was first proposed in 1783 by the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, John Grieve[1] to support merchants on the Royal Mile to improve connection to the residents on Princes Street (which was then built only from St Andrew Square to Hanover Street and was wholly residential) in correct anticipation of the need for such a new route.[2] Its completion was not formally agreed until the 1827 Improvement act. It was improved over the years until by 1830 it was macadamised and landscaped so that it appeared more or less complete.[3] A need for a railway tunnel was pre-empted in 1844 with the current southern tunnel completed in 1846 to a design by William Henry Playfair (prior to the construction of the gallery above). A second northern tunnel was added in 1892 beneath the then extant galleries above.[4]
Description
The Mound is a busy, if fairly steep, thoroughfare taking traffic to and from
Notable buildings
Some of Edinburgh's most notable buildings and institutions have their premises on the Mound, including the
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The Bank of Scotland headquarters on The Mound
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New College and the General Assembly
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Royal Scottish Academy
See also
References
- ^ Grant's Old and New edinburgh vol.2 p.255
- ^ Kay's Original Portraits: The Lawnmarket Coach
- ^ "Lost Edinburgh: The Mound". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
- ^ Buildings of scotland: Edinburgh by Gifford, McWilliam and Walker p.309
- ^ "Looking down the Mound". www.edinphoto.org.uk.