Melville Monument — Attraction in City of Edinburgh

I've no idea how to review a tall column. It won't even fit in a photo in the background of a selfie. In the years I've visited Edinburgh it's not the buildings or the crazy pre occupied people. It's the green spots - that beermat of garden surrounding the monument. An oasis in the psychological desert. Sit. Enjoy the sanity. Pose your kids on the giant stone lion and photograph them before they fall off and social work come knocking (again). They have different things here all year with displays and eventually the winter ice skating etc. Not quite the Forrest Gump box of chocolates but a good resting spot when princess street has worn you down a bit. Sit and breathe. Let the kids off the lead. Get your head back together and...

Situated in a small green public oasis in the New Town, the monument is dedicated to Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville.

Melville is today a controversial figure due to his role in the final abolition of the British transatlantic slave trade. He was at the heart of UK political power in the late 18th Century and reckoned to have been the most powerful person in Scotland for a time.

For me it reflects how he was seen at the time, reflects who they were, not who we are now. I like things that provoke thought and this is certainly one in a...

I have awarded 4 stars because of the historical significance of the monument. Perched atop the 140 foot monument is Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville. Impeached while 1st Lord of the Admiralty for stealing money from the mariners pay, he made a fortune from the slave trade and delayed the abolition of slavery in Britain by 5 years. None of this information is to be found at the monument. Only a plaque explaining how the 1500 ton column was erected. Dundas allegedly paid for this tribute to himself with the money he stole from...