The Royal Mile Police Box, located on the Royal Mile in the City of Edinburgh, is the most valuable police box in the United Kingdom,[ citation needed ] and one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in Europe per square foot.
The Royal Mile Police Box, located on the Royal Mile in the City of Edinburgh, is the most valuable police box in the United Kingdom,[ citation needed ] and one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in Europe per square foot.
The police box (along with others in Edinburgh) was designed by City Architect Ebenezer MacRae, and manufactured by Carron Ironworks in Falkirk. The new network of police boxes was formally commissioned by the Chief Constable and other dignitaries in 1933. [1] All of the MacRae police boxes featured klaxons and blue flashing lights to alert constables to an incoming message, but the Royal Mile box uniquely featured a "sky lantern", a remote blue lamp mounted at high level on the street corner of North Bridge and Royal Mile, so as to attract attention across a wider area. [2]
Following a general sale of all police boxes (with just one exception) [3] by Police Scotland, [4] [5] the Royal Mile box was purchased in 2012 by entrepreneur Kit Fraser for £102,000, [3] and has since been converted into a ticket booth operated by City of Edinburgh Tours. [6]
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian, it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. Edinburgh is Scotland's second-most populous city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous city in the United Kingdom.
A police box is a public telephone kiosk or callbox for the use of members of the police, or for members of the public to contact the police. It was used in the United Kingdom throughout the 20th century from the early 1920s. Unlike an ordinary callbox, its telephone was located behind a hinged door so it could be used from the outside, and the interior of the box was, in effect, a miniature police station for use by police officers to read and fill in reports, take meal breaks and even temporarily hold detainees until the arrival of transport.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world's largest arts festival, which in 2018 spanned 25 days and featured more than 55,000 performances of 3,548 different shows in 317 venues. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place in Edinburgh every August. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has become a world-leading celebration of arts and culture, surpassed only by the Olympics and the World Cup in terms of global ticketed events. As an event it "has done more to place Edinburgh in the forefront of world cities than anything else" according to its historian and former chairman of the board, Michael Dale.
Princes Street is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km from Lothian Road in the west, to Leith Street in the east. The street has few buildings on the south side and looks over Princes Street Gardens allowing panoramic views of the Old Town, Edinburgh Castle, as well as the valley between. Most of the street is limited to trams, buses and taxis with only the east end open to all traffic.
The Scotsman is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its parent company, JPIMedia, also publishes the Edinburgh Evening News. It had an audited print circulation of 16,349 for July to December 2018. Its website, Scotsman.com, had an average of 138,000 unique visitors a day as of 2017. The title celebrated its bicentenary on 25 January 2017.
Portobello is a coastal suburb of Edinburgh in eastern central Scotland. It lies 3 miles (5 km) east of the city centre, facing the Firth of Forth, between the suburbs of Joppa and Craigentinny. Although historically it was a town in its own right, it is officially a residential suburb of Edinburgh. The promenade fronts onto a wide sandy beach.
The High Constables of Holyroodhouse are a small corps of ceremonial bodyguards at the Sovereign's official residence in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. Created in the early sixteenth century to protect the Monarch in residence at Holyrood, as well as to guard the Palace and Abbey, and enforce law and order within the precincts of the Palace and the Holyrood Abbey Sanctuary.
Stewart's Melville College (SMC) is an independent day and boarding school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Classes are all boys in the 1st to 5th years and co-educational in Sixth (final) year. It has a roll of about 750 pupils.
This article is a timeline of the history of Edinburgh, Scotland, up to the present day. It traces its rise from an early hill fort and later royal residence to the bustling city and capital of Scotland that it is today.
The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is the convener of the City of Edinburgh local authority, who is elected by the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the Lord-Lieutenant of Edinburgh. It is the equivalent in many ways to the institution of Mayor that exists in many other countries.
Lothian Buses is the largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council owns 91%, Midlothian Council 5%, East Lothian Council 3% and West Lothian Council 1%.
Fairmilehead is a district of southern Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies approximately 3 miles (5 km) due south of the city centre and borders Midlothian. The area comprises the neighbourhoods of Buckstone, Caiyside, Caiystane, Swanston, Frogston and Winton.
Robin Mitchell is a Scottish writer and producer.
The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658-seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by architect C. J. Phipps at a cost of £17,000 on behalf of James B. Howard and Fred. W. P. Wyndham, two theatrical managers and performers whose partnership became the renowned Howard & Wyndham Ltd created in 1895 by Michael Simons of Glasgow.
Dora Noyce was a Scottish brothel keeper ('madam') based in Edinburgh.
Ebenezer James MacRae was a Scottish architect serving as City Architect for Edinburgh for most of his active life.
The High Constables of Edinburgh are a prestigious body of constables, founded in 1611 and located in Edinburgh, Scotland. Historically, the High Constables were charged with policing the streets of Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, however today their duties are mostly ceremonial. It is believed that the High Constables of Edinburgh are the first example of a statutory police force in the world. At one time they formed part of the now defunct Corporation of the City of Edinburgh and continue to serve a ceremonial function in the local government of Edinburgh.
Advocates Close is a narrow and steep alley in Edinburgh of medieval origin, redeveloped in the early 21st century. With a multiplicity of steps it is not accessible to disabled persons.
The Witches' Well is a monument to accused witches burned at the stake in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the only one of its kind in the city.
High Constabulary of the Port of Leith was founded in the late 17th century, to deal with safety in the royal port and behaviour in streets of the port of Leith near Edinburgh, Scotland. It continues to this day as a ceremonial port police organisation.
