The Mound is an artificial hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, which connects Edinburgh's New Town and Old Town. It was formed by dumping around 1,501,000 cartloads of earth excavated from the foundations of the New Town into the drained Nor Loch which forms today's Princes Street Gardens. The construction of the Earthen Mound, as it was originally called, was begun in 1781 and it was extended over the years until by 1830 it was macadamised and landscaped so that it appeared more or less complete.