11 November 2009: Scottish National War Memorial

The Scottish National War Memorial was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1927 as a tribute to the Scottish casualties of the First World War.

The Memorial stands in the central and highest part of the Castle and forms the north side of the historic Crown Square.  The building was designed by Scottish architect Sir Robert Lorimer who appointed two hundred Scottish artists and crafts people to create a Hall of Honour and Shrine that incorporate scenes of war depicted through stone carvings, bronze friezes and stained glass.

In the Shrine stands a steel casket containing the Roll of Honour.  It is surrounded by a bronze frieze designed and crafted by Morris and Alice Meredith Williams.  It depicts all types of Scottish service men and women, true life figures of men and women wearing battle or working dress.

Since 1917 additions and alterations have been made to commemorate lives lost in the Second World War and later conflicts including the Korean War, Falklands War and Gulf War.