Catherine Sinclair Monument

North Charlotte Street/St. Colme Street

It is ironic that the monument is so close to the site of the annual Book Festival (held in Charlotte Square every August), yet the works of Catherine Sinclair are largely forgotten in her city.

Born in Edinburgh in 1800, Catherine was a prolific writer of travel, biography, children's books, novels, essays, and reflections. Her most notable work is 'Holiday House' which, unusually for the time, portrayed a realistic middle class childhood, complete with mischievous and adventurous children.

The monument was built in recognition of her many philanthropic work which included setting up soup kitchens and funding the first drinking fountain in Edinburgh (fragments of which remain between Gosford Place and Connaught Place, close to the Water of Leith). Does it remind you of anything? A Gothic rocket perhaps? That's because the design of the monument was based broadly on the Scott Monument (East Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh EH2 2EJ) to which Catherine was a major contributor.

Statues of women are rarer in Edinburgh than hen's teeth. In fact, of the over 200 statues in Edinburgh, only two are of women (Queen Victoria – at the foot of Leith Walk, and an unnamed South African woman - in Festival Square) ...the same number as there are of dogs (Greyfriars Bobby – Candlemaker Row, and 'Bum' at the King's Stables Road entrance to Princes Street Gardens). There is a project called Putting Scotland's Women on the Map (womenofscotland.org.uk) which will hopefully redress the balance.