6 May 2009: Heart of Midlothian Memorial Monument, Edinburgh

Work has begun this week to remove the Heart of Midlothian Memorial Monument from Haymarket junction to make way for Edinburgh’s new tram lines.

First built in 1922 in honour of the many men who gave their lives in the Great War, the monument is to be put in storage for two years and will be re-erected at a new site at the junction once the tram works are complete.  A temporary memorial will be sited nearby until the original can be returned.

Among those commemorated by the monument are footballers from Edinburgh’s Heart of Midlothian club.  In November 1914, with the club comfortably leading the First Division, sixteen players enlisted to fight in France - the first British football team to sign up together.  By the end of the First World War, seven of the players had been killed.

Every Remembrance Sunday officials, players and supporters of Heart of Midlothian gather by the memorial to pay their respects.  The picture here, part of RCAHMS Professor F M Chyrstal collection, was taken in the 1920s and shows the old tram lines passing the monument.