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Adam Brown · Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 11:38 pm Post subject: Hopetoun Monument, East Lothian

Hopetoun Monument, East Lothian
Off B1343, Byres Hill, East Lothian
OS Ref: NT 500 763

This 29m tall monument overlooks the mainly flat land of the northeast corner of East Lothian. It is to the Peninsular War hero Sir John Hope, the 4th Earl of Hopetoun (1765 - 1823)

The 4th Earl owned nearby Luffness House and estate, and this monument was erected by the people of that estate in 1824.

I haven’t climbed the hill or the monument yet. There is a car park at the foot of the hill just off the B1343. It is not a big hill and once you get to the top you can then climb 132 steps to the top of the monument where there is a viewing platform. You can see the wall of the platform sticking out just under the top of the tower. (It makes it look a bit like a chimney to me).

It will be a great view on a clear day because there are no large hills around here except Berwick Law so you will see for miles. You have to take a torch though because there is no lighting in the stairwell.

In the photograph you can make out a pale rectangle on the base of the column. This has the inscription:

This monument was erected to the memory of the Great and Good John Fourth Earl of Hopetoun by his affectionate and grateful tenantry in East Lothian. MDCCCXXIV

See also the sculpture to the 4th Earl in St Andrew Square in Edinburgh
_________________
Scottish War Memorials Project
Scottish War Graves Project

Adam Brown · Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 11:40 pm Post subject:

The monument is a category B listed building. From the Historic Scotland database

http://hsewsf.sedsh.gov.uk/hslive/hsstart?P_HBNUM=10831

Description:
1824. Imposing column of industrial stalk appearance topping Byres Hill. Circular section, internal spiral stairway leading to parapet and viewpoint, cantilevered with machicolated corbel.

Squared and coursed red igneous whinstone. Base course, band course on column and below corbel. Round-arched doorway with iron grill and raised surround. Tall unglazed slit openings in column.

References:
OS Map, Haddingtonshire, 1854. J Martine, REMINISCENCES AND NOTICES OF 14 PARISHES OF THE COUNTY OF HADDINGTON, 1890, p 109.

Notes:
Original marble plaque on column reads "This monument was erected to the memory of the great and good John, Fourth Earl of Hopetoun, by the affectionate and grateful tenantry in East Lothian MDCCCXXIV". The Earl in question had a mainly military career, attaining the rank of Lieutenant-General and gaining some fame at the Battle of Corunna. This monolith dominates the East Lothian skyline and, from the top, the intrepid may view most of Lothian and the Firth of Forth.
_________________
Scottish War Memorials Project
Scottish War Graves Project