page_title: George Meikle Kemp
section_title: The Scott Monument
hierarchical_section_title: George Meikle Kemp / The Scott Monument
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph by David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson
context_page_description: Wikipedia
  George Meikle Kemp was a self-taught Scottish architect who designed and built the Scott Monument in Edinburgh, Scotland. Trained as a joiner and carpenter, he was said to have had a first-hand knowledge of Gothic architecture which was unrivalled in Scotland.
context_section_description: In 1836 a competition was launched (by a committee of "Noblemen and Gentlemen") to design a monument to the leading Scottish author Sir Walter Scott, who had died in 1832, to be erected in Edinburgh. Several leading architects had already been invited to submit designs, but none was considered adequate. The competition's three best designs would each receive a prize of 50 guineas. 
  Kemp recognised his opportunity and after working at great speed for five days submitted an entry, using the pseudonym “John Morvo”, one spelling of the name of the French master mason who had worked on the building of Melrose Abbey and Rosslyn Chapel. Kemp's design was described as “a lofty tower or spire of beautiful proportions, with elaborate and carefully drawn details, chiefly taken from Melrose Abbey”.
  There were 54 entries in the competition and “John Morvo” was one of the three winners. English architects Thomas Rickman and Charles Fowler were placed first and second, "John Morvo" third. It was not known who “John Morvo” might be and enquiries were made amongst Edinburgh's architects. Kemp's identity was eventually discovered and he was awarded one of the 50–guinea prizes. However, the other two winners and many of the losing competitors were aggrieved that someone so unqualified, inexperienced and obscure, and not even an architect, should have been one of the winners. One complainant stated that Kemp's inexperience was such that he had not even built a cow house.
  Unable to decide amongst the three winners, the competition committee invited further designs. Several outstanding architects contributed. Kemp submitted an improved version of his design under his own name and, after the committee had deliberated, on 28 March 1838 Kemp was announced as the winner. The organisers praised “an imposing structure, 135 feet (41 metres) in height, of beautiful proportions, and in strict conformity with the purity of taste and style of Melrose Abbey, from which the author states it is in all its details derived”.
  The site on Princes Street in Edinburgh was decided upon. Kemp's approved builder, David Lind, was chosen, and it was decided that the monument was to be built of Binny sandstone from the shale beds at Linlithgow, West Lothian. This stone was popular in Edinburgh because it was easily worked and could be transported into the city by the Union Canal, but hindsight has shown it be a poor choice for a large city and for a site near a railway station, because of its propensity for attracting soot. Kemp took over as his own Clerk of Works, bringing in a regular income and the opportunity to  supervise closely the building of his design. He was well-liked by the craftsmen working for him, because he was not grand and because he demanded accuracy and precision. In an early instance of his determination that the monument should be built in his own way he rejected a proposal that wooden piles be driven into the ground to support the structure, insisting the excavation for the foundation should be carried down to the bedrock, some 52 feet (16 metres) below the surface of Princes Street. However, he at first lost an argument about the height of the monument; his original plans were for a height of 184 feet (56 metres) rather than the 135 feet (41 metres) determined upon by the committee because of insufficient funds. Despite this, at Kemp's insistence the organisers relented and allowed him to build to his original dimensions and in the end even slightly higher. 
  The foundation stone was laid on 15 August 1840, the 69th anniversary of Scott's birth, the day being declared a public holiday. Tens of thousands of people were present at the ceremony and Kemp was prominent among those being celebrated. The monument began to rise above the ground in 1841. As work progressed over the next three years, Kemp's presence on the building site, visible daily to passers-by on Princes Street, probably contributed to his growing public popularity. Seeking an even greater affinity with his workers than he already possessed, Kemp - already a Freemason - joined the L
caption: George Meikle Kemp on the building site of the Scott Monument, photographed c1843 by David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson
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