Burns Monument and Gardens

The Burns Monument was the first memorial built to the memory of the Poet Robert Burns in Ayrshire, and is situated on the banks of the River Doon in Alloway. It is situated only half a mile South of the thatched cottage where he was born on 25th January 1759.

Image (c) www.scran.ac.uk 

This design was the successful scheme for the Monument to Robert Burns won by the Edinburgh Architect, Thomas Hamilton jun. The design is in ink and has been colored in to emphasize the features. A later increase in subscriptions allowed a more elaborate structure to be undertaken by 1819.

The Monument foundation stone was laid on 25th January, 1820 and the completed building opened 4th July 1823, subscriptions having reached £2,611. The building is about 21metres high, set on a triangular base is a peristyle with nine fluted Corinthian columns supporting a masonry dome.