Parliament Square, Edinburgh

Last updated

Parliament Square, Edinburgh facing east, showing the equestrian statue of Charles II and the facade of the Law Courts designed by Robert Reid. Parliament Square, Edinburgh facing east.jpg
Parliament Square, Edinburgh facing east, showing the equestrian statue of Charles II and the facade of the Law Courts designed by Robert Reid.

Parliament Square, Edinburgh, Scotland, is located off the High Street, part of the Royal Mile. [1] The square is not a formal square, but consists of two sections surrounding St Giles Kirk on three sides: an L-shaped area to the east and south and another area on the west side of the church called West Parliament Square. The Edinburgh Mercat Cross [2] [3] is located on the east side of the square while an equestrian statue of Charles II of Scotland [note 1] stands in front of the entrance to the Supreme Courts of Scotland adjoining Parliament House, on the west side. [4] The Queensberry Memorial to the 5th Duke of Buccleuch, stands in West Parliament Square.

Contents

The square also includes a statue of James Braidwood, erected in 2008, who founded what is asserted to be the world's first municipal fire service, in Edinburgh, after the Great Fire of Edinburgh in 1824.

History

A painting showing Edinburgh characters in Parliament Close in the late 18th century, before the church and Parliament House were re-faced The Parliament Close and Public Characters Fifty Years Since.jpg
A painting showing Edinburgh characters in Parliament Close in the late 18th century, before the church and Parliament House were re-faced

The square came into existence in 1632 as a forecourt to the Parliament House on the old graveyard of St Giles Kirk. Parliament House not only housed the pre-union Parliament of Scotland but also the Court of Session (the supreme civil court in Scotland). This made the square a centre for the meeting of politicians and lawyers before they entered the building, from the time of its creation until the dissolution of the Scottish parliament with the Act of Union in 1707. [5]

Another building adjacent to the square was the Old Tolbooth, which was "used variously as a meeting place for the Town Council, a tax office, law court and prison, it was finally torn down in 1817". [6] It was from there in 1661 that those found guilty of high treason after the Restoration were taken to be executed next to the mercat cross. [7]

Henry Cockburn lamented the loss of the square's historical name, Parliament Close, a change he attributed to the silliness of fashion ("foppery") when he wrote his memoir of life in Edinburgh in the 1820s. [8]

Notes

  1. The equestrian statue of Charles II dates from around 1685. It was the first lead statue in Edinburgh and one of the first in Great Britain (EWH staff 2012a).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Mile</span> Collection of streets in Edinburgh

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Knox House</span> Architectural structure in City of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

John Knox House, popularly known as John Knox's House, is a historic house in Edinburgh, Scotland, reputed to have been owned and lived in by Protestant reformer John Knox during the 16th century. Although his name became associated with the house, he appears to have lived in Warriston Close where a plaque indicates the approximate site of his actual residence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Giles' Cathedral</span> Church in Edinburgh, Scotland

St Giles' Cathedral, or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alterations were undertaken in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the addition of the Thistle Chapel. St Giles' is closely associated with many events and figures in Scottish history, including John Knox, who served as the church's minister after the Scottish Reformation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Steell</span> Scottish sculptor (1804-1891)

Sir John Robert Steell was a Scottish sculptor. He modelled many of the leading figures of Scottish history and culture, and is best known for a number of sculptures displayed in Edinburgh, including the statue of Sir Walter Scott at the base of the Scott Monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament House, Edinburgh</span> Former parliament building in Edinburgh, now housing the Supreme Courts of Scotland

Parliament House in the Old Town in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a complex of several buildings housing the Supreme Courts of Scotland. The oldest part of the complex was home to the Parliament of Scotland from 1639 to 1707, and is the world's first purpose-built parliament building. Located just off the Royal Mile, beside St Giles' Cathedral, Parliament House is also the headquarters of the Faculty of Advocates, the Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet, and the Society of Solicitors in the Supreme Courts of Scotland. Other buildings in the complex include the Advocates Library and the Signet Library. The entire complex is a Category A Listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Town, Edinburgh</span> Central area of Edinburgh, Scotland

The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Street, facing Edinburgh Castle and the Old Town across the geological depression of the former Nor Loch. Together with the West End, the New Town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside the Old Town in 1995. The area is also famed for the New Town Gardens, a heritage designation since March 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ormiston</span> Village in East Lothian, Scotland

Ormiston is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, near Tranent, Humbie, Pencaitland and Cranston, located on the north bank of the River Tyne at an elevation of about 276 feet (84 m).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlotte Square</span> Garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland

Charlotte Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland, part of the New Town, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The square is located at the west end of George Street and was intended to mirror St. Andrew Square in the east. The gardens, one of the collection of New Town Gardens, are private and not publicly accessible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Canongate</span> A district of Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland.

The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Town, Edinburgh</span> The oldest part of Edinburgh

The Old Town is the name popularly given to the oldest part of Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and many Reformation-era buildings. Together with the 18th/19th-century New Town, and West End, it forms part of a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of Aberdeen</span> Buildings in Aberdeen, Scotland (UK)

The architecture of Aberdeen, Scotland, is known for the use of granite as the principal construction material. The stone, which has been quarried in and around the city, has given Aberdeen the epithet The Granite City, or more romantically, and less commonly used, the Silver City, after the mica in the stone which sparkles in the sun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glasgow Cross</span> Street in Glasgow City, Scotland, UK

Glasgow Cross is at the hub of the ancient royal burgh and now city of Glasgow, Scotland, close to its first crossing over the River Clyde. It marks the notional boundary between the city centre and the East End

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh</span> Former municipal building in Edinburgh, Scotland

The Old Tolbooth was an important municipal building in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland for more than 400 years. The medieval structure, which was located at the northwest corner of St Giles' Cathedral and was attached to the west end of the Luckenbooths on the High Street in the Old Town, was first established in the 14th century by royal charter. Over the years it served a variety of purposes such as housing the Burgh Council, early meetings of the Parliament of Scotland and the Court of Session. The Tolbooth was also the burgh's main jail where, in addition to incarceration, physical punishment and torture were routinely conducted. From 1785 public executions were carried out. In 1817 the buildings, which had been rebuilt and renovated several times, were demolished.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Square, Edinburgh</span> Square in Edinburgh, Scotland

George Square is a city square in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is in the south of the city centre, adjacent to the Meadows. It was laid out in 1766 outside the overcrowded Old Town, and was a popular residential area for Edinburgh's better-off citizens. In the 1960s, much of the square was redeveloped by the University of Edinburgh, although the Cockburn Association and the Georgian Group of Edinburgh protested. Most but not all buildings on the square now belong to the university. Principal buildings include the Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre, Edinburgh University Library, 40 George Square and Appleton Tower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh City Chambers</span> Municipal building in Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh City Chambers in Edinburgh, Scotland, is the meeting place of the City of Edinburgh Council and its predecessors, Edinburgh Corporation and Edinburgh District Council. It is a Category A listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luckenbooths</span>

The Luckenbooths were a range of tenements which formerly stood immediately to the north of St. Giles' Kirk in the High Street of Edinburgh from the reign of King James II in the 15th century to the early years of the 19th century. They were demolished in 1802, apart from the east end of the block which was removed in 1817.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercat Cross, Edinburgh</span> Historic marker in Scotland

The Mercat Cross of Edinburgh is a market cross, the structure that marks the market square of the market town of Edinburgh. It stands in Parliament Square next to St Giles' Cathedral, facing the High Street in the Old Town of Edinburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Fire of Edinburgh</span> City fire in City of Edinburgh, Scotland

The Great Fire of Edinburgh was one of the most destructive fires in the history of Edinburgh. It started on Monday, 15 November 1824, and lasted for five days, with two major phases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melville Monument</span> Monument in City of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

The Melville Monument is a large column in St Andrew Square, Edinburgh constructed between 1821 and 1827 as a memorial to Scottish statesman Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West St Giles' Parish Church</span> Church in Edinburgh, Scotland

West St Giles' Parish Church was a parish church of the Church of Scotland and a burgh church of Edinburgh, Scotland. Occupying the Haddo's Hole division of St Giles' from 1699, the church was then based in Marchmont between 1883 and its closure in 1972.

References

Citations

  1. EWH staff 2012b, p. 4.
  2. EWH staff 2012.
  3. EWH staff 2012a.
  4. EWH staff 2012b, p. 3.
  5. EWH staff 2012b, p. 1.
  6. EWH staff 2012b, p. 2.
  7. Anderson 1851, pp. 1, 2 (PDF).
  8. Cockburn, H (1856), Memorials Of His Time, Edinburgh: Mercat Press reprint, p. 106

Sources

55°56′58″N3°11′24″W / 55.94953°N 3.19005°W / 55.94953; -3.19005