Memorial details

Memorial type
Sculptured / Cast figure
District
City Of Edinburgh
Town
Edinburgh
County
Lothian
Country
Scotland
Commemoration
Boer War; Second (1899-1902), First World War (1914-1918), Second World War (1939-1945), Korean War (1950-1953), Northern Ireland Conflict; The Troubles (1969-1998), Iraq War (2003-2011)
Ceremony
  • Unveiled
    Date: 16 November 1906
    Attended by: Earl of Rosebery KG PC
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
53588

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Current location

Princes Street West Gardens
Princes Street
opposite the junction with Frederick Street
Edinburgh
City Of Edinburgh
Lothian
EH2 2HG
Scotland

OS Grid Ref: NT 25203 73799
Denomination: Undefined

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Description
Equestrian statue in bronze, of a Trooper of the Regiment in full review order of 1899, on a rock pedestal bearing bronze plaques with inscriptions and regimental badges.
Inscription
6 o'clock face: IN MEMORY OF/ OFFICERS NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND MEN/ THE ROYAL SCOTS GREYS/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY/ IN THE BOER WAR 1899-1902/ (Names)/ IN GLORIOUS MEMORY OF THOSE/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY IN THE WORLD WAR 1939-1945/ (Names) 9 o' clock face: IN MEMORY OF/ OFFICERS NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS & MEN/ THE ROYAL SCOTS GREYS/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THE COUNTRY/ IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918/ (Names)/ THIS MEMORIAL WAS ERECTED IN 1906/ IN MEMORY OF THE ROYAL SCOT GREYS/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN SOUTH AFRICA/ DURING THE BOER WAR 1899 TO 1902/ TABLETS WERE ADDED AFTER THE THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1914 TO 1918/ AND AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR 1939 TO 1945/ IN 1971 THE ROYAL SCOTS GREYS AMALGAMATED WITH/ THE 3RD CARABINERS TO FORM/ THE ROYAL SCOTS DRAGOON GUARDS/ (CARABINERS AND GREYS) 12 o' clock face: IN MEMORY OF/ OFFICERS NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS & MEN/ THE ROYAL SCOTS GREYS/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THE COUNTRY/ IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918/ (Names)/ IN MEMORY OF/ THE OFFICERS, NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND MEN/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THE COUNTRY SINCE 1945/ (Names)
Inscription legible?
yes
Commemorations
  • Boer War; Second (1899-1902)
    Total names on memorial: 76
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 76
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Surname, rank, decorations
    Order of information: Rank, surname
  • First World War (1914-1918)
    Total names on memorial: 157
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 157
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Surname, rank, regiment, additional, decorations
    Order of information: Rank, surname
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
    Total names on memorial: 158
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 158
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Surname, rank, year died ,regiment, decorations
    Order of information: Rank, surname
  • Korean War (1950-1953)
    Total names on memorial: 1
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 1
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Surname, rank, year died, place of death
    Order of information: Undefined
  • Northern Ireland Conflict; The Troubles (1969-1998)
    Total names on memorial: 3
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 3
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Surname, rank, year died, place of death
    Order of information: Undefined
  • Iraq War (2003-2011)
    Total names on memorial: 2
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 2
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Surname, rank, year of death, place of death
    Order of information: Undefined
Components
  • Sculpture
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Bronze
  • Pedestal
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Stone
  • Plaque
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Bronze
  • First World War memorial
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Bronze
  • Second World War memorial
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Bronze
  • Plaque
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Bronze
Condition
History
In 2015 a War Memorials Trust grant of £35,190 was offered to eight different war memorials in Edinburgh for repair and conservation works. Following completion of the works in 2016 a grant of £27,600 was awarded as costs were lower than anticipated. so £3,450 for each memorial. The works to the Royal Scots Grey memorial dealt with extensive bird droppings on the bronze figure which was causing damage to the bronze. Weathering had also led to other areas of corrosion on the metal plaques and sculpture. The stone plinth had a build-up of biological growth with cracked or missing mortar in many of the joints. To address these issues works were undertaken to clean the bronze figure and plaques before a protective wax was applied. The stone stonework was appropriately cleaned with steam and the joints were re-pointed with a lime mortar.
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Responsibility
Edinburgh City Council
Reference

This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.

This information is made available under a Creative Commons BY-NC licence.

This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement:

© WMR-53588

For queries, please contact [email protected].