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Vintage illustration of The Scott Monument in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh.

The Scott Monument: Edinburgh’s Gothic Rocket

In 2026 The Scott Monument turns 180. A key feature of Edinburgh’s skyline that also gives those brave enough to visit the top a panoramic view across the City to the sea, it stands as a monument to one of Scotland’s cultural icons.

Sir Walter Scott

The Scott Monument celebrates one of Scotland’s best-loved writers, Sir Walter Scott, author of Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and many other popular novels, who helped to re-ignite interest in Scottish history and culture during his lifetime. Scott also orchestrated the Royal Visit of George IV to Edinburgh in 1822, planning pageants and balls, ordering buildings to be removed or altered to make beautiful vistas for processions, and even writing a pamphlet telling the people of Edinburgh what to wear during the Visit. Scott died in 1832, prompting a public call for a monument to his memory and the funds to make it magnificent.



A mysterious designer

George Meikle Kemp was the architect of the Scott Monument. He submitted his design anonymously, aware that his status as a draughtsman, but not an architect, might prejudice the judges against him. He needn’t have worried as his design was selected and adopted in 1838.


A Gothic approach

Locals sometimes refer to the Scott Monument as the ‘Gothic Rocket’ due to its architectural style and the way the open base resembles the tail fins of a spacecraft. The Gothic architectural style harks back to Medieval buildings, particularly religious structures. Scott’s novels often evoked this historical period, making it a fitting style for his monument. We are used to seeing the Monument against the calm, neoclassical backdrop of Edinburgh’s New Town, but it must have looked very daring and modern to Edinburgh’s people when it began to be built.



Scott's statue

A key feature of the Scott Monument is the statue of the man himself, sheltering under his Gothic Rocket with his dog Maida by his side. The statue was completed by John Steell. The cool marble makes a striking contrast with the stone of the Monument.


Rocket men

Architect George Meikle Kemp didn’t live to see his vision for the Scott Monument realised, as he drowned in the Union Canal just before its completion in 1844. The Monument is testament not only to his beautiful design, but also to the masons who worked on its construction, many of whom suffered health problems relating to the inhalation of masonry dust and on-site accidents.


Visiting the Monument

Visitors to the Scott Monument can see artefacts related to the great author, learn more about his life and work, and climb the 221 steps to the third level of this feat of engineering and token of appreciation for a man who did so much to promote Scotland’s history and culture.