North Section, Old Calton Burial Ground, Waterloo Place, Edinburgh

The North Section of the Old Calton Burial Ground, established in 1718, is located on a steeply sloping site on Calton Hill and is divided by Waterloo Place. This burial ground features a remarkable collection of primarily 18th and 19th century monuments, lairs, headstones, and tablestones, showcasing a variety of styles, many adorned with intricate carvings and momenti mori. The site includes screen walls along Waterloo Place and rows of Classical lairs with round-arched entrances topped with open pediments.

Notable monuments in the burial ground include:

• Robert Adam's monument, erected in 1777, features a two-stage Classical cylindrical tower with a fluted frieze on the first stage and a Doric frieze with paterae on the second stage. It is constructed of rough ashlar with smooth ashlar margins, and includes a base course, cornice, and blocking course. The moulded door surround is complemented by a decorative metal entrance gate and an engraved plaque that reads, "DAVID HUME, BORN APRIL 26th 1711 DIED AUGUST 25th 1776. ERECTED IN MEMORY OF HIM IN 1778," with a large urn set in a niche above.

• Thomas Hamilton's monument, dedicated in 1844, is a tall ashlar obelisk standing on a square-plan base plinth, commemorating the Political Martyrs of 1793, with inscriptions on the plinth.

• George E. Bissell's monument, established in 1893, features a tiered polished red granite plinth topped with a bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln, accompanied by a seated bronze figure at the base with one arm outstretched.

The screen walls, designed by Archibald Eliot in 1815, consist of long Classical structures on the north and south sides of Waterloo Place, featuring regularly spaced niches. These walls are made of ashlar and include a cornice and blocking course, with slightly projecting sections containing niches flanked by Doric columns. A central round-arched gateway on the south wall is adorned with two-leaf decorative metal gates.