The Three Sisters - Largs

Introduction

The photograph on this page of The Three Sisters - Largs by Raibeart MacAoidh as part of the Geograph project.

The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk

The Three Sisters - Largs

Image: © Raibeart MacAoidh Taken: 9 Sep 2017

The three pillars, known locally as 'The Three Sisters', stand as a monument to one of Largs' most famous sons. Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane. The pillars are remnants of the astronomy Observatory built in 1808 at Brisbane House, the first of three established by Brisbane. His favourite Observatory seems to have been the Largs one, as he did his main work from it. To help with his observations, Brisbane built 'The Three Sisters' here on Green Hill with a Meridian pillar midway between his Observatory and the 'Sisters', which enabled him to establish a true North-South line in the sky for his telescope measurements. In Brisbane Glen, there is another smaller pillar in a field near the site of his Observatory. This was cylindrical, with a triangular top which had a hole, through which the 'Three Sisters' could be sighted and due North established.

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Image Location

coordinates on a map icon
Latitude
55.793831
Longitude
-4.860959