Rory Walsh explores Arthur’s Seat – the dormant volcano formed more than 350 million years ago – and its fiery origins
Viewpoint • Urban• Scotland • Guide
Like Rome, Edinburgh sits on seven ancient hills. During their occupation of Britain, the Romans knew the area as ‘Alaund or ‘the rock place’. In modern times, the Scottish capital’s peaks have become popular hiking routes. There is even an annual race over them all in a day. Each June, the Edinburgh Seven Hills Challenge sees runners ascend Arthur’s Seat, Blackford Hill, Braid Hills, Calton Hill, Castle Rock, Costorphine Hill and Craiglockhart Hill.
Besides being first alphabetically, Arthur’s Seat is the tallest; the summit stands 251 metres above sea level. On clear days, spectacular views from the top extend to the Pentland Hills, the Lothians and North Berwick.
Most people see Arthur’s Seat at ground level, where it looms above Holyrood Palace at the bottom of the Royal Mile. From some angles, the hill’s brown outline has been compared to a giant lion sitting down. Two rounded humps make up the ‘Lion’s Head’ and ‘Lion’s Haunch’.
These mounds are the remains of volcanic vents.
Like Castle Rock and Calton Hill, Arthur’s Seat is a dormant volcano. Around 360 million years ago, the local landscape comprised swampy lagoons, preserved on Arthur’s Seat as sedimentary layers of sandstone and mudstone.
The hills were formed by volcanic activity between 341 and 335 million years ago. Layers of volcanic ash are still visible at the base of Arthur’s Seat.
Yet today we can only see parts of the volcano. When the eruptions ended, the extinct volcano was gradually buried, then eroded over millions of years.
Though formed by fire, Arthur’s Seat was also shaped by ice. Towards the end of the last Ice Age, around 31,000–16,000 years ago, glaciers in the Highlands retreated eastwards under gravity. On the way to what is now the North Sea, the ice scoured the land, removing swathes of softer rock.
The distinctive Salisbury Crags below Arthur’s Seat emerged where glaciers carved at the hard volcanic outcrop.
In 1879, Edinburgh-born writer Robert Louis Stevenson described Arthur’s Seat as ‘a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bold design’. Its dramatic origins likely inspired Celtic tales that the hill was a fire-breathing dragon petrified after falling asleep. Other legends claim that Arthur’s Seat is the site of Camelot, the mythical King Arthur’s castle. The name remains a mystery.
Beyond doubt is that in the right weather, the summit is the seat with the clearest view.
Go to the Discovering Britain website to find more hikes, short walks, or viewing points. Every landscape has a story to tell!
