Historic Cities · Scotland
Edinburgh through the ages
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. It is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh had a population of 506,520 in 2020, making it the second-most-populous city in Scotland and the seventh-most-populous in the United Kingdom.
Edinburgh in 1560
Reformation Edinburgh
This is Edinburgh at the height of the Scottish Reformation when the Royal Mile stacked with tall tenements led from the king's palace at Holyrood to the castle on its volcanic rock. The walk follows the old approach from the Firth and Leith into the Canongate and along the High Street past St Giles, its luckenbooths and closes, to the castle esplanade.
A compact medieval skyline: the squat, brooding mass of Castle Rock and its stone keep, St Giles' distinct crown spire, and a serried ridge of multi-storey stone 'lands' lining the Royal Mile. Streets are narrow, paved with worn cobbles, the closes falling away in shadow to lower lanes; roofs of tile and slate and timber shop-fronts cluster close together. Smoke from peat and hearth fires softens late-afternoon light over the Nor Loch and harbour beyond.
The walk — 21 streets, squares and views
Firth Approach → Leith Shore → Foot of the Canongate → Holyrood Abbey Yard → Holyrood Forecourt → Canongate High Street → Netherbow Port → Luckenbooth Row → St Giles' Churchyard → Mercat Cross → …
Step inside — 14 interiors
Harbour Counting-house · Abbey Choir · Palace Audience Chamber · Port Guardroom · Luckenbooth Shop · High Kirk Nave · Tolbooth Council Chamber · Stone Merchant's Hall · Turnpike Stair and Hall · Tanners' Workroom · Merchants' Guild Hall · Printer's Workshop · Castle Great Hall · St Margaret's Chapel
Planned from the Wikipedia record: History of Edinburgh.
Edinburgh in 1790
Enlightenment Edinburgh
Edinburgh in 1790 is a city of two faces: the ancient, smoky closes and castle of the Old Town, and the new, rational grid of the Georgian New Town rising on open ground north of the Nor Loch. This walk follows the route between those worlds, from distant hill views and harbour approaches into the terraces, squares and busy streets where merchants, lawyers and students move and argue.
A low, compact skyline of stone: the Old Town’s crowded roofs and church spires crowned by the dark mass of Castle Rock, and beyond it the crisp horizontal lines of new Georgian terraces on Princes Street and George Street. Roofs are slate and chimneyed; façades are pale ashlar and sandstone bands; streets are cobbled, often wet or smoky from coal. The Mound’s earthen tip crosses the hollow of the drained Nor Loch, joining neat squares, mews and the wide promenades of the New Town.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Arthur's Seat View → Leith Shore and Harbour → Leith Walk → Holyrood Palace and Canongate → Royal Mile / High Street → St Giles' and the Kirkyard → Lawnmarket and Mercat Cross → Tron Kirk and Parliament House → South Bridge Approach → North Bridge Gateway → …
Step inside — 12 interiors
Leith Merchants' Counting-House · Audience Chamber, Holyrood Palace · Antiquarian Bookseller's Shop · St Giles' Nave · Printer's Workshop and Press · Tron Kirk Interior · Natural Philosophy Lecture Room · Princes Street Debating Room · Castle Great Hall · Dundas House Banking Hall · Georgian Drawing Room · Oyster Cellar Club
Planned from the Wikipedia record: New Town, Edinburgh.
Edinburgh in 1880
Victorian Edinburgh
Edinburgh in 1880 is a Victorian capital of stone and smoke where railway steam and brewery chimneys sit beneath medieval heights. This walk moves from the Firth and the docks through Waverley's steam and the terraces of the New Town to the castle esplanade and the hill views that define the city's skyline.
A compact skyline of dark volcanic Castle Rock and the rounded bulk of Arthur's Seat anchors terraces of pale sandstone; Gothic pinnacles such as the Scott Monument and the pinnacled steeples of St Giles rise above regimented New Town streets. Gas lamps and steam from locomotives plume across the valleys, brewery chimneys and industrial smoke add brown-grey veils, while shopfronts and horse traffic animate narrow closes and broad avenues alike.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Firth of Forth View, Leith → The Shore, Leith → Leith Walk → Calton Hill → Waverley Bridge Forecourt → Waverley Station Exterior → Princes Street Gardens → Scott Monument → The Mound → National Gallery on the Mound → …
Step inside — 12 interiors
Leith Customs Counting Room · Waverley Main Platforms · Scott Monument Spiral Stair · National Gallery Grand Gallery · RSA Exhibition Room · High Street Taproom · St Giles' Nave · Lady Stair's Parlour · Castle Great Hall · Grassmarket Inn Taproom · Highland Draper's Showroom · South Bridge Vaults Workshop
Planned from the Wikipedia record: History of Edinburgh.
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