Plan showing means of supplying Edinburgh Castle with water, 20 June 1802
Plan showing means of supplying Edinburgh Castle with water, 20 June 1802
Robert Darling, an engineer and mathematician, drew this sketch of a pictorial elevation to show the means of supplying Edinburgh Castle ‘with excellent water from a plentiful spring at the north-east corner of its Rock, which never freezes in winter nor dries in summer, by means of pumps and cisterns within bombproof turrets like a staircase.’ The hard rock that the castle was built on provided an excellent defensive position, however it meant that penetrating the earth to reach water below was difficult and, despite a deep well having been dug, water had ran out during a long siege or drought on many occasions.
Credit: NRS, RHP49992 (Link to the Online Catalogue entry)