Dugald Stewart Monument

The Dugald Stewart Monument is a nineteenth-century memorial on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, Scotland, overlooking Princes Street, the Old Town and Edinburgh Castle. It commemorates Dugald Stewart, one of the leading figures of the Scottish Enlightenment and Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. The monument was commissioned by the Royal Society of Edinburgh after Stewart’s death in 1828 and designed by Scottish architect William Henry Playfair. Completed in 1831, it consists of a circular podium supporting nine fluted Corinthian columns surrounding a central urn. Playfair based the design on the ancient Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens, contributing to the concentration of Greek Revival architecture that gave Calton Hill and Edinburgh their association with the nickname “Athens of the North”. The monument occupies a particularly prominent position on the western side of the hill and is protected as a Category A listed building.

Dugald Stewart Monument has appeared in North & South (2004), One Day (2011), Mausam (2011), The Railway Man (2013) and Sunshine on Leith (2013). Its elevated position above central Edinburgh has allowed filmmakers to use both the monument itself and the surrounding slopes, paths and panoramic city views. It has represented the industrial town of Milton in a Victorian drama, appeared in establishing shots identifying Edinburgh, provided a romantic meeting place and formed the background to scenes involving soldiers returning home.

In North & South (2004), the BBC adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel, the slopes beside the Dugald Stewart Monument are transformed into part of the fictional northern industrial town of Milton. The location recurs throughout the four-part series during Margaret Hale’s walks above the town, including scenes in which she meets Bessy Higgins and her father Nicholas Higgins. John Thornton is also shown walking here, while the hill appears during Boucher’s climb and again in connection with his funeral. The production added artificial gravestones to parts of the landscape and digitally altered the view across Edinburgh with smoking chimneys and other industrial elements to create the polluted Victorian skyline of Milton. The Dugald Stewart Monument remains recognisable in several of these compositions, making the area around the monument one of the principal outdoor locations used to establish the geography of the fictional town.

In One Day (2011), Dugald Stewart Monument appears during the opening sequence establishing Edinburgh on 15 July 1988, the morning after Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew graduate from the University of Edinburgh. After an opening view of Arthur’s Seat, the film cuts to Calton Hill and the Dugald Stewart Monument overlooking the city. The shot is used primarily as an Edinburgh establishing image rather than as the setting for dialogue between the characters. The sequence then moves down into the city, where Dexter, Emma and their fellow graduates are seen walking across North Bridge and through the Old Town after spending the night celebrating their graduation. Calton Hill subsequently fits into the larger visual geography of Edinburgh that frames the beginning and eventual conclusion of Emma and Dexter’s relationship.

In Mausam (2011), Dugald Stewart Monument appears during the Edinburgh section of the romantic drama starring Shahid Kapoor as Harinder “Harry” Singh and Sonam Kapoor as Aayat. Harry and Aayat first fall in love in India before circumstances separate them, and years later they unexpectedly meet again in Edinburgh, where Aayat is living and Harry has arrived as an Indian Air Force officer. Calton Hill is among the Edinburgh locations used as their relationship develops again, and the area around the Dugald Stewart Monument provides the setting for one of the scenes involving the couple. The production filmed extensively around Edinburgh, also using locations including Grassmarket, Princes Street Gardens, Holyrood Park, New College and several New Town buildings.

In The Railway Man (2013), Dugald Stewart Monument appears during the homecoming of the young Eric Lomax, played by Jeremy Irvine. After surviving imprisonment and torture as a British prisoner of war forced to work on the Thai–Burma Railway during the Second World War, Eric returns to Scotland. He is shown walking across the grass on Calton Hill carrying his suitcase, with the Dugald Stewart Monument standing prominently behind him and the Edinburgh skyline stretching beyond it. The location therefore provides a clear visual transition from Eric’s wartime experiences in Asia back to his home country. The scene is one of the most identifiable uses of the monument on film, with Film Edinburgh’s official location map for The Railway Man specifically identifying Calton Hill as the site of “a homecoming scene for young Eric” and illustrating the location with a still showing Eric beside the monument.

In Sunshine on Leith (2013), the area beside the Dugald Stewart Monument is used during the developing relationship between Davy Henshaw, played by George MacKay, and Yvonne, played by Antonia Thomas. Davy takes Yvonne onto Calton Hill, where the two have a private and increasingly emotional conversation overlooking Edinburgh. The sequence develops into their performance of “Misty Blue”, one of the Proclaimers songs incorporated into the musical. The official Sunshine on Leith location map identifies Calton Hill as the setting for the conversation and song and illustrates the location with the Dugald Stewart Monument and the city skyline. The monument and viewpoint place the scene firmly within Edinburgh, which director Dexter Fletcher deliberately used as a major visual presence throughout the film.

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