The Eastern New Town from Calton Hill

There are great views of the city in all directions from Calton Hill. In 1822, in celebration of King George' IVs visit to Scotland, the first visit of a reigning monarch to Scotland since 1650, portraits of the views to the North, South, East and West were commissioned.

This view to North shows the eastern New Town of Edinburgh which was planned to be extended to include many more grand streets and squares. However, little further development of that original plan was undertaken. The green fields were ultimately developed during the Victorian era in a quite different and less grandious way.