- Royal Mile
The Royal Mile is the popular name for the succession of streets which form the main thoroughfare of Edinburgh's Old Town.
As the name suggests, the Royal Mile is approximately one Scottish mile long, and runs between two foci of history in
Scotland , fromEdinburgh Castle at the top of the Castle Rock down toHolyrood Abbey . It is said to be referred to by locals as "High Street", but properly, this is the name of only one stretch. The streets which make up the Royal Mile are (west to east) Castle Esplanade, Castlehill, Lawnmarket, High Street, Canongate and Abbey Strand. The Royal Mile is Edinburgh Old Town's busiest tourist street, rivalled only byPrinces Street in the New Town.Geography
Retreating ice sheets, about a millennium ago, deposited their
glacial debris behind the hardvolcanic plug that is Castle Rock (whichEdinburgh Castle sits upon), resulting in a distinctivecrag and tail feature. Extending in an eastwards direction, the Royal Mile sits upon the spine of this crag and tail trailing gently down from the Castle to thePalace of Holyroodhouse . Steep "closes" (or alleyways) run between the many tall "lands" (ortenement buildings) off the main thoroughfare.Castle Esplanade and Castlehill
The Castle Esplanade was laid out in the 19th century primarily as a parade ground for troops. It is the venue of the annual
Edinburgh Military Tattoo . Cannonball House is notable for a cannonball lodged in the wall, said to have been accidentally fired from the Castle.From the Castle Esplanade, the short Castlehill is dominated by the former Tolbooth Highland St John's Church (on the right), now the headquarters of the
Edinburgh International Festival society - The Hub. The Assembly Hall of theChurch of Scotland and New College are on the left - theScottish Parliament met in the Assembly Hall between 1999 and 2004.Lawnmarket
The Lawnmarket, which was the
linen market, is dominated by tourist-oriented shops. On the left is the preserved 17th century townhouseGladstone's Land owned by theNational Trust for Scotland .The bottom of the Lawnmarket is marked by a major intersection withGeorge IV Bridge on the right (south) and Bank Street on the left, leading toThe Mound and the New Town. The view down Bank Street is dominated by thebaroque headquarters of theBank of Scotland .High Street
During the annual
Edinburgh Festival , the High Street becomes the city's central focus, and is crowded with tourists, entertainers andbusker s. On the left is theHigh Court of Justiciary , Scotland's supreme criminal court. On the right, about one-third of the way down from the Castle toward the Palace is Parliament Square, named after the old Parliament House which housed both the law courts and the oldParliament of Scotland between the 1630s and 1707 (when it was adjourned by the Act of Union) Parliament House is now the home of theCourt of Session , Scotland's supreme civil court.St Giles Cathedral , the High Kirk of Edinburgh, also stands in Parliament Square.By the West Door of St Giles is the Heart of Midlothian, a heart-shaped mosaic built into the pavement marking the site of the former
Tolbooth (prison). Tolbooth prisoners used to spit as they entered the prison, and this tradition is maintained by some people, who spit on the Heart for good luck as they walk past. On the left, opposite St Giles', isEdinburgh City Chambers , where theCity of Edinburgh Council meets. On the right, just past the High Kirk, is theMercat Cross from which royal proclamations are read, and election results announced.The central focus of the Royal Mile is a major intersection with The Bridges. North Bridge runs left (north) to the New Town's Princes Street across Waverley station. To the right South Bridge (which appears from above to be simply a road with shops on either side: and even from below, only one arch is visible) spans across the
Cowgate , a street many storeys below, and continues as Nicolson Street past the Old College building of theUniversity of Edinburgh .Between The Bridges and
John Knox House is one of the only remaining buildings on the Royal Mile that is still used for the same purpose for which it was built -Carrubbers Christian Centre . Built in 1883 to house theCarrubbers Close Mission , the building at the heart of the Royal Mile is home to a lively church.After
John Knox 's House the High Street reaches the former limits of the city, at its crossroads with St Mary's Street (north) and Jeffrey Street (south). At this point formerly stood the oldNetherbow , a fortified gateway toEdinburgh (long since demolished). The recently rebuiltNetherbow Theatre is owned by theChurch of Scotland and houses theScottish Storytelling Centre . Following the English victory over the Scots at theBattle of Flodden in 1513, a city wall was built around Edinburgh known as theFlodden Wall , some parts of which still survive. The old Netherbow was a gateway in this wall andbrass studs in the road mark where it use to stand. On the corner of St Mary's Street is the World's End Pub, so named because this was formerly the boundary of theburgh - beyond was the land controlled by Holyrood Abbey (hence the name of the next section: Canongate).Canongate
Beyond the crossroads, the Royal Mile continues on
Canongate , meaning the "canon's gait" or monk's walk. It continues downhill pastMoray House (now the School of Education of theUniversity of Edinburgh ), the oldCanongate Tolbooth (now a museum of social history called The People's Story), theKirk of the Canongate (the Canongate's parish church) and the newScottish Parliament Building to thePalace of Holyroodhouse and the ruinedHolyrood Abbey . Until 1856 theCanongate was not merely a street, but the name of the surroundingburgh , separate from Edinburgh and not enclosed by the Flodden Wall.Abbey Strand
The short approach to the
Palace of Holyroodhouse .Royal Mile today
Today, the Royal Mile is an eclectic mix of tourist shops and eateries as well as pubs and historical attractions. It also serves as the heart of Scotland's legal system, being the home of both the High Court of Justiciary and the Court of Session.
ee also
*
List of Closes on the Royal Mile
*Museum of Childhood
*Outlook Tower , Castlehill, containing acamera obscura External links
* [http://www.scotcities.com/capital.htm Edinburgh Architecture - The Royal Mile]
* [http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk City of Edinburgh Council]
* [http://www.nts.org.uk National Trust for Scotland]
* [http://www.aboutscotland.co.uk/edin/royal.html Map and Landmarks]
* [http://theroyalmile.org.uk The Spiritual History of The Royal Mile]
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