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Tower or folly

The Scott Monument

Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh

The biggest monument to a writer in the world.

After Sir Walter Scott died in 1832, Edinburgh built a huge Gothic spire in his honour, over 61 metres high. It was designed by George Meikle Kemp, a self-taught joiner, who drowned in a canal before it was finished.

Read the full story, see it on the map, get directions and find what else is nearby in the free Hidden Britain Atlas map.

When
1840–1846
Where
55.9520, -3.1930
Group
Towers & follies

Visiting

Open to climb, with a small fee.

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