[Greyfriars Churchyard & the Castle]

From the Getty Museum record

> Described in *Chambers Edinburgh Journal* of 1836 as "the Westminster Abbey of Scotland," Greyfriars Kirk dates from 1620 and was the first church to be built in the capital city after the Reformation. In 1638 the National Covenant, a declaration of the Presbyterian faith, was signed there. Its churchyard is the oldest cemetery in Edinburgh. > > This image shows two figures standing against a sloping backdrop of tombstones with a view of Edinburgh Castle in the distance. The fortress, situated on a volcanic crag, was home to Scottish monarchs until James VI of Scotland (1566-1625) succeeded Elizabeth I of England (1858-1603) as James I of England in 1603, thus uniting the two crowns. (See [84.XO.964.21](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/99153/hill-adamson-greyfriars-churchyard-1843-1847/), [84.XM.263.5](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/38273/hill-adamson-greyfriars'-churchyard-the-dennistoun-monument-with-d-o-hill-and-his-nieces-scottish-1843-1847/), [84.XO.734.4.4.40](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/99419/hill-adamson-greyfriars-churchyard-1843-1848/) and [84.XO.734.4.4.44](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/99423/hill-adamson-greyfriars-churchyard-heriot's-hospital-1843-1847/) for other views of Greyfriars Churchyard and Edinburgh) > > Anne M. Lyden. *Hill and Adamson*, In Focus: Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1999), 38. ©1999, J. Paul Getty Museum. For more information about the places Hill and Adamson photographed see ["Hill and Adamson: Place"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl_MF40BGDk).