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The Covenanters Monument, or Colinton Column, was erected in 1886 beside Redford Brae (the hilly part of the old Redford Road leading over the now disused bridge over the Braid Burn). It is made up of four columns from the façade of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, which was demolished in 1884. The infirmary of 1738 was designed by William Adam (1689- 1748), and stood between Infirmary Street and Drummond Street. Upon its demolition, some pieces of the infirmary were bought by Robert A McFie of Dreghorn Castle, Colinton. The four ionic columns and the weather vane were built into this column.

The column has inscriptions on each face of the square top section: ROMANS, CROMWELL 1650, COVENANTERS 1666 and CHARLES 1745. The photos below show the whole monument and three of the four inscribed faces. The fourth face (Cromwell) is more difficult to photograph and would probably involve going into the grounds of Dreghorn Barracks to take.

There is an inscribed stone plaque standing beside the monument. I have part of the inscription, but the rest of it is almost impossible to read because of the moss growing on it. I hope to obtain a full transcription taken before the moss grew as thickly, and plan to add that here at a later date.

See also http://hsewsf.sedsh.gov.uk/hslive/hsstart?P_HBNUM=27809 for more information.

See http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edinburgh_Infirmary_Adam_(Paul_Sandby).jpg for an engraving of the Adam infirmary building.
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