Tour Scotland photograph of the Camera Obscura, Edinburgh, Scotland. Located near the Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle, on the short Castlehill Street. Camera Obscura is the oldest purpose built attraction in the city. In the early 18th century, the Edinburgh instrument maker Thomas Short leased some land on Calton Hill to display his instruments to the public. As his lease stipulated female relatives of Thomas could not inherit the building and its contents, his wife and children did not inherit it when he died in 1788. In 1827, Maria Theresa Short returned to Edinburgh from the West Indies claiming to be Thomas Short’s daughter and attempted to claim his Great Telescope for her inheritance. Despite strong competition from other parties, she received the telescope and set up Short's Popular Observatory in 1835, housed in a wooden and stone building next to the National Monument on Calton Hill. She exhibited many scientific instruments and kept her Observatory open till 9pm each evening. After this very popular observatory was pulled down by authorities against her protests in 1851, she moved to Castlehill. In 1852, she bought the Laird of Cockpen’s townhouse, adding two storeys to create Short's Observatory, Museum of Science and Art, in existence from 1853 to 1892. The tenement is thought to be the original mansion of the Ramsays of Dalhousie, the Lairds of Cockpen, turned into small flats in the 18th century. The main attraction in Short's Observatory was the camera obscura occupying the topmost room. Her husband continued to run the attraction after Mrs. Short died in 1869. The tower, with its six floors of interactive exhibitions, is still open to the public, making it the oldest purpose built attraction in the city, and one of the oldest in the United Kingdom.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.
No comments:
Post a Comment