The One o'Clock Gun Association

The One o'Clock Gun Association an organisation located in the Edinburgh area of Scotland.

Its objectives are set in its Articles of Association and, in summary, are:

1. To promote understanding and awareness of Edinburgh's heritage, particularly the history of the city's time service.

2. To increase public awareness of Edinburgh's history, including the city's buildings, monuments and clocks.

3. To advance the care and welfare of animals by promoting the history of Greyfriar's Bobby.

It is fitting that our website carries the name "piazzi" as it was Charles Piazzi Smyth, second Astronomer Royal for Scotland who instigated Edinburgh's Time Ball and Time Gun and who advised and assisted others in building their time services.

Prior to the formation of this organisation, Edinburgh was served by a charity called The One o'Clock Gun and Time Ball Association. Regrettably this former charity was dissolved some years ago due to a lack of ongoing funding. A residual website of this former charity is still available on the web and we are in discussions aimed at integrating it with this new website. In the meantime all up to date information will be on our website and in our blog.

The One o' Clock Gun Association was founded by Staff Sergeant McKay. It has been revived by the members who have a fascination for the history and heritage of Edinburgh. It was the current members who made virtually all of the contributions to the former Association website and who will be contributing to our new website.

It was while working at the City Observatory on top of Carlton Hill as Astronomer Royal for Scotland that Charles Piazzi Smyth created both time services for Edinburgh.

Calton Hill occupies a very central site within Edinburgh and is a short walk from Princes Street, the main thoroughfare. There is a relatively steep climb to achieve the summit, but for those daunted by this a more leisurely circuitous route is available. The views are worth the climb, and and even more panoramic views can be obtained by ascending the stairs of the Nelson Monument.

Since 2009 the City of Edinburgh Council has embarked on a course of action that will develop the site and once again allow access to it. We are working on this project with the Council. It is this process that has given the impetus to revive the Association. We hope to provide a historical service on Calton Hill starting in 2015.

For further information, please get in touch.