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A view down the Royal Mile, Edinburgh |
A Wee Bit aboot the Royal Mile
The Royal Mile in Edinburgh is as it's name suggests about one mile long, it runs from Edinburgh Castle at the top down to Holyrood Palace and Abbey at the bottom, this unique street was essentially created about a millenium ago when the retreating ice sheets deposited their glacial debris behind the hard volcanic plug which is now known as Castle Rock. The areas that make up this exceptionally busy and popular area of Edinburgh are from West to East, The Castle Esplanade, Castlehill, The Lawnmarket, The High Street, Canongate and Abbey Strand, each of the areas mentioned above have a multitude of shops both traditional scottish and modern, there is also an abundance of fine eating and drinking establishments in this area, the map opposite refrences some of the more well known and popular bars and restaraunts in this area, but we have focused mainly on the excellent bars (which also serve food) in the area.
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Castlehill
The short Castlehill is dominated by the former Tolbooth Highland St John's Church, now the headquarters of the Edinburgh International Festival Society (The Hub). The Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland and New College are on the left of the street, the Scottish Parliament met in the Assembly Hall between 1999 and 2004. Our journey starts here at The Witchery a very famous and exquisite restaurant sat at the very top of Castlehill just before the Castle Esplanade, click on the icon on the map to read more about this excellent restaurant. |
Lawnmarket
The Lawnmarket, which was the old linen market, is dominated by tourist-oriented shops. On the left is the preserved 17th century townhouse Gladstone's Land owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The bottom of the Lawnmarket is marked by a major intersection with George IV Bridge to the South and Bank Street to the North, the view down Bank Street is dominated by the baroque headquarters of the Bank of Scotland. This area of the Royal Mile also plays home to some of the most famous bars in the area, click on the appropriate icon on the map. |
The High Street
During the annual Edinburgh Festival, this area of the Royal Mile becomes the cities centre of focus and is always crowded with tourists, entertainers and buskers. It is also home to such sites as Parliament Square which used to house the Scottish Parliament between the 1630's and 1707, in the same area we also have the magestic St Giles Cathedral, about half way down the High Street we come to the Old Tron Kirk and the Mercat Cross where royal proclomations etc are announced this is also the area of another major intersection with North Bridge to the North and South Bridge to the South commonly known as the Bridges, then we get to probably one of the most famous building on the Royal Mile 'John Knoxs House', now a museum dedicated to the story of this great man who was once believed to be the most dangerouse man in Scotland according to 'Mary Queen of Scot's', and then at the end of this section of the Royal Mile we come to another intersection with St Mary's Street running North and Jeffrey Street running South this was once the city limits of Old Edinburgh Town and was a fortified gateway called the Netherbow, gold studs have been placed in the cobbles to show where this great gate once stood, we also find ourselves at one of the bars on our list 'The Worlds End' so called because this was in fact the outer limits of Edinburgh and the area beyond was controlled by Holyrood Abbey. click on the ions opposite to learn about the various bars in this area. |
Canongate
The Royal Mile now continues on Canongate, which traditionally means the 'canon's gait or monk's walk'. This continues down past various sites including the old kirk of the Canongate, the old Canongate Tolbooth which is now a museum down to Holyrood Palace and the Old Holyrood Abbey, up until 1856 the Canongate was not just a street, but also the name of the surrounding burgh as this was not enclosed by the great wall that surrounded the city at that time, please click on the icons opposite to learn about the various bars in this area. |
Abbey Strand
This is a short street which leads up to the famous Holyrood Palace and Abbey |
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