Waterloo Monument On Visit Near Ancrum In The Borders Of Scotland

Tour Scotland travel video clip, with Scottish music, of the Waterloo monument on visit near Ancrum in the Scottish Borders. This is a 150 foot tower, built between 1817 and 1824 to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo. It was designed by the architect Archibald Elliot, after the original monument designed by William Burn collapsed. The monument stands on Peniel Heugh, a hill between Ancrum and Nisbet, Roxburghshire. Although technically on private land, walkers may park at the Harestanes Visitor Centre and then follow the marked walk to the top of the hill. The tower is not open to the public. The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815, near Waterloo in Belgium, part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands at the time. A French army under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition, a British-led coalition consisting of units from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Brunswick, and Nassau, under the command of the Duke of Wellington, referred to by many authors as the Anglo-allied army or Wellington's army, and a Prussian army under the command of Field Marshal von Blücher, referred also as Blücher's army. The battle marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Archibald Elliot was born in August 1761 in Ancrum, Roxburghshire the son of a carrier. After training as a joiner he moved to cabinet design, working then in London, and appears to have then trained as an architect before returning to Scotland to work in Edinburgh. He ran an architecture practice in London and Edinburgh with his brother James Elliot. Following James's death in 1810, Archibald ran the company on his own. It was later taken over by Archibald's son, Archibald Elliot Junior. He contributed to many significant buildings and streets in Edinburgh, including St Paul's and St George's Church, Rutland Square, the Regent Bridge, Waterloo Place and Calton Prison (now demolished). He was also involved with work on many country houses in Scotland, including Blair Castle and Taymouth Castle in Perthshire, Loudoun Castle in Ayrshire, and Stobo Castle in Peeblesshire. He died on 16 June 1823 and is buried near the centre of New Calton Cemetery, close to his works on Waterloo Place. A son, William Elliot, born 1796, died 1828, lies with him. All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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