ABSTRACT
Throughout history the topographical extremities of Calton Hill have lent themselves to radical meanings and behaviours. A volcanic fragment formed in the Ice Age, the hill sat at a distance from the medieval limits of Edinburgh, its physical separation reinforced by the deep ravine on its western side. Since the early- to mid-nineteenth-century Calton Hill has been surrounded by the various New Towns – the ravine was bridged in 1816 – and incorporated into the city. Yet its bald summit bristling with spare architectural features carries much deeper cultural significance and a more ambiguous weight of historical relationships than might be imagined by the casual viewer. It could in fact be termed as a heterotopia in Foucault’s definition of the concept, for it is a public space both of ritualistic and decorative significance, where special attributes of intellectual and artistic achievement are separated out from the crush of the city below and celebrated. Yet it is also where both the ritual punishment, and the affirmation of difference and deviation have traditionally taken place. Historically the site had been used as a type of bacchanalic escape valve for the people from the overcrowded, closely packed closes of the medieval Old Town. Edinburgh’s hangings of criminals and burnings of witches took place on this hill, and when on the many occasions throughout history the mob took control of the city streets, they would retreat here after the riot, to drink, carouse, and light bonfires into the night. 1
