Dugald Stewart's Monument, Calton Hill, Edinburgh is a Grade A listed building in the City of Edinburgh local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 19 April 1966. Monument.

Dugald Stewart's Monument, Calton Hill, Edinburgh

WRENN ID
inner-wicket-reed
Grade
A
Local Planning Authority
City of Edinburgh
Constituency
Edinburgh North and Leith MP: Tracy Gilbert (Lab)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
19 April 1966
Type
Monument
OS grid reference
NT 261 741
Coordinates
55.95451, -3.18448
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Dugald Stewart's Monument, located on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, was designed by William Henry Playfair and completed in 1831. This Neo-Greek circular monument features a podium that supports an open Corinthian colonnade surrounding an urn. The structure is made of polished ashlar and includes a projecting base course with a moulded chamfer, as well as banded rustication on the upper section of the podium. On the northeast side, there is an architraved, recessed panel that bears the inscription "DUGALD STEWART/ BORN NOVEMBER 22 1753 / DIED JUNE 11 1828".

The monument stands on a three-step crepidoma, each step adorned with a moulded cornice. At the center, a circular plinth supports the urn, which is encircled by an open colonnade of nine fluted Corinthian columns. The frieze is decorated with wreaths, and there is a dentilled cornice and antefixae. The structure is topped with a shallow domed stone roof, which features a plumed open urn at its center.

Surrounding the monument is a restored polygonal enclosure made of stone piers, which are also ornamented with wreaths, and cast iron railings.

Local climate

Dugald Stewart's Monument, Calton Hill, Edinburgh sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 970 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 76% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 53% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 43 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 81% of listed buildings. Of these, 25 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Observatory House, Calton Hill, Edinburgh Grade A 39 m
  2. Retaining Wall, Regent Road, Edinburgh Grade B 43 m
  3. Rock House, Calton Hill, Edinburgh Grade A 59 m
  4. 26 Calton Hill, Edinburgh Grade B 63 m
  5. 24 Calton Hill, Edinburgh Grade B 70 m
  6. City Observatory, Calton Hill, Edinburgh Grade A 78 m
  7. 20, 22 Calton Hill, Edinburgh Grade B 79 m
  8. 16, 18 Calton Hill, Edinburgh Grade B 91 m
  9. Convening Rooms, 29 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh Grade A 93 m
  10. Playfair's Monument, City Observatory, Calton Hill, Edinburgh Grade A 94 m