Imagining and staging an urban border: the role of the Netherbow gate in early modern Edinburgh
- Submitting institution
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Glasgow School of Art
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 3813
- Type
- C - Chapter in book
- DOI
-
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- Book title
- The Design of Frontier Spaces: Control and Ambiguity
- Publisher
- Ashgate
- ISBN
- 9781472419767
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month of publication
- July
- Year of publication
- 2015
- URL
-
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- Supplementary information
-
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- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This chapter discusses the role of the Netherbow gate, standing at the East end of the High Street in Edinburgh until its demolition in 1764, as both physical and symbolic urban frontier. It looks at its historical role and involvement as both bystander and actual ‘participant’ to civic life both in times of peace and war, as a spatial signifier marking the difference between ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ spaces, and defining the relationship between the burgh of Edinburgh and its eastern neighbour, the burgh of Canongate. This piece addresses how superseded urban frontiers kept lingering within altered urban spaces through folklore, traditions, and denominations, considering the lasting impression left by the gate in the characterisation of civic spaces even after its demolition. It is based on a comprehensive, critical analysis of the written history and pictorial evidence pertaining to the civic gate, in the light of current theories of space and human engagement with civic spaces, to clarify the role of this popular but very little studied civic landmark. It discusses how the role of the Netherbow as urban border changed over time, because of economic, political, and social circumstances, until it became a politicised hostage in the acrimonious negotiations between Scottish and English politicians following the Porteous Riot in 1736. This piece is part of a larger research topic on the role of civic landmarks in early modern Edinburgh, which included research and publications on the West Port gate in Edinburgh (book chapter, 2011), and on the role of such landmarks during early modern urban ceremonies (monograph, 2020). Research related to this book chapter was presented as a conference paper at the Society of Architectural Historians conference in 2012, and as an invited seminar given in 2015 at The Martin Centre for Architectural and Urban Studies, University of Cambridge.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -
