Recently, when delving in an archive of old newspapers, I came across this letter by ‘John of Rankleburn’ which mentioned “The Cage” in Edinburgh’s Meadows:
‘The Cage’ was situated in The Meadows at the southern end of (Middle) Meadow Walk. It has ben described as a ‘fancy Summer House’ but no picture of it seems to have survived. It was erected in the mid-18th century and demolished by the Town Council in 1824. Veterans from the Napoleonic Wars used to meet there: apparently they were known as ‘The Meadow Walk Warriors’.
1822 map, The Meadows, Edinburgh:
1824 map, Meadows, Edinburgh:
24 August 2024, Caledonian Mercury:
27 August 1825, The Scotsman:
The archaeology of the Meadows landscape by Dennis Gallagher
The present layout of the Meadows is the result of several centuries of adaptation of the local environinent. As is well known, the Meadows was a water-filled hollow which was only gradually drained and in filled. Recent excavations on the north side of the Meadows revealed what appears from a distant inspection to be fine white riverine silt under a later deposit of heavier clayey soils. With such overlay of dumped material covering the original ground surface, there is little evidence of any earlier occupation or land use. The draining of the Meadows began in the early eighteenth century and was soon followed by the creation of the primary element of what maybe termed its designed landscape: Middle Meadow Walk.
Created by Thomas Hope after 1722, this was essentially a raised causeway across the partially drained morass that was the remains of the former loch. This provided a path for the then fashionable exercise of strolling. This path was widened by the purchase of adjacent land from the George Heriot’s Tnist. In form it is outwardly a mere path, but it was conceived of as an improvement to the city, a route linking the urban centre with the countryside in a controlled civilized manner that would be appreciated by eighteenth century sensibility.
An undated letter of this period commented on how Mr. Hope had beautified the Meadows wonderfully and made it into another St. James Park (NAS GD189/2/164).
Avenues were an essential feature of the great gardens of this period, emulating the great gardens of Versailles. The walk was carefully laid out with the spire of St. Giles as a focal point at its northern end. Its southern end, at least in the early nineteenth century, terminated at the Cage, a sort of summerhouse that acted as a place of refreslunent. Middle Meadow Walk, therefore, was not just a path but was conceived of as a garden walk, a stretch of nature rained and civilized. It is the tradition of great avenues with monumental foci, either existing or created for the purpose.
Scottish examples include the gardens of Kinross House, focused on Loch Leven Castle, and Newliston with avenues aligned on historic structures including Alloa Tower
In the urban context Middle Meadow Walk may be compared with the great Parisian avenues that radiated out from the centre of the city, where walking was a fashionable activity. In London, The Mall, laid out in 1660, and St. James Park, once a water meadow like the Meadows, offered similar facilities. New Walk, York was laid out along the riverside in the 1730s for the fashionable recreation of the inhabitants.
Middle Meadow Walk was laid out by Thomas Hope as a thirty foot wide walkway, enclosed on each side by a hedge and lime trees. The walk also was to be bordered by a narrow canal, nine feet wide. Ornamental canals were a feature of the great European gardens of the period. The remains of a double bank can still be seen flanking Middle Meadow Walk in its central section, especially in low light; this is probably the remains of the canal, a feature that still fills with water after heavy rain.
The depth of the Meadows before infilling can be seen on the OS 1:1056 town plan of Edinburgh of 1849-53. This shows a water pipe, now underground and recently renewed, as passing over the Meadows raised on a covered conduit with a dry arch under its deepest park, in the centre of the Meadows.
The 1849-53 plan also marks a ‘sheep ree’ on the west side of Middle Meadow Walk about where the information board has been erected. A ‘ree was an enclosure for animals; and the sheep may have served the role of environment-friendly lawn mowers. The eastern end of the Meadows is covered with a large area of posts, over 100 in eight rows. These may have acted as a huge drying green, although a more industrial use such as bleaching is a possibility.