By the accession of George III. (1760), Edinburgh showed signs of revived enterprise. In 1763 the first North Bridge, connecting the Old Town with the sloping ground on which afterwards stood the Register House and the theatre in Shakespeare Square, was opened; a little later the Nor' Loch was partially drained, and the bridging of the Cowgate in 1785 encouraged expansion southwards. Towards the end of the 18th century the New Town began to take shape on the grand, if formal, lines which had been planned by James Craig (d. 1795), the architect, nephew of the poet Thomson, and the erection of Regent Bridge in Waterloo Place (formally opened in 1819 on the occasion of the visit of Prince Leopold, afterwards king of the Belgians) gave access to Calton Hill. The creation of Princes Street, one of the most beautiful thoroughfares in the world, led to further improvement. The earth and débris from the excavation of the sites for the houses in this and adjoining streets had been "dumped" in the centre of the drained Nor' Loch. This unsightly mass of rubbish lay for a while as an eye-sore, until the happy thought arose of converting it into a broad way joining the new road at Hanover Street with the Old Town at the Lawnmarket. Upon this street, which divides Princes Street and its gardens into east and west, and which received the title of the Mound, were erected the National Gallery and the Royal Institution. Speaking generally, the New Town was resorted to by professional men--lawyers, doctors and artists,--and in its principal streets will be found the head offices of the leading banks and insurance offices, all lodged in buildings of remarkable architectural pretensions. The Commercial, the Union and the Clydesdale banks are in George Street, the National Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and the British Linen Company's Bank are in St Andrew Square, the Bank of Scotland is at the head of the Mound. The extensive building operations engaged in by the town council in the early part of the 19th century resulted in the insolvency of the city in 1833. The property of the corporation was valued at £271,658 against a debt of £425,195, which was compounded for by the issue of 3% annuity bonds--the loss to the creditors amounting to 25% of their claims.