The Scott Monument

After Scott died in 1832, a competition was announced to design a monument to honour him. A totally unknown architect by the name of Kemp won - and he did so by using an assumed name. He thought that his lack of experience would count him out.

The Monument

John Steell was commissioned to design the statue of Scott at the base of the monument. It is sculpted from white Carrara marble and shows Scott with his dog Maida by his side.

The foundation stone was laid on the 15th of August 1840. Following an Act of Parliament permitting it (the Monument to Sir Walter Scott Act 1841 (4 & 5 Vict.) C A P. XV.), construction began in 1841 and ran for nearly four years. The tower was completed in the autumn of 1844. When the monument was inaugurated on the 15th of August, George Meikle Kemp himself was absent; walking home from the site on the foggy evening of the 6th of March that year, Kemp had fallen into the Union Canal and drowned.