St John’s Hill, 10 Viewcraig Gardens, Edinburgh EH8 9UQ
Hidden away just off the Pleasance is the Hutton Memorial Garden, on the site of the house where James Hutton lived till his death in 1797. it incorporates stones from localities that were important in the development of Hutton’s geological theories. Hutton believed that the continents were being slowly ground down and carried to the sea to be deposited as sand and mud. The internal heat of the earth then consolidated these deposits and raised them up to form new land. Hutton believed this cycle continued indefinitely, leaving ‘no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end’.
James Hutton (1726–97).
Hutton’s famous unconformity, Jedburgh. Two layers of rocks can be seen lying at different angles one on top of the other.
Plaque in the Hutton Memorial Garden.
Find out more
- National Library of Scotland, Scottish Science Hall of Fame: James Hutton (1726–1797)
- Education Scotland, Scottish Enlightenment: James Hutton (1726–1797)
- Edinburgh Festival 2016, Deep Time: James Hutton and Deep Time explained in cartoon form
- Edinburgh Festival 2016, Deep Time: Video of the opening event, focusing on deep time and James Hutton