The Royal Mile

I Digress

5 Dec

For our first listener request digression, we digress from Edinburgh Castle to talk about a very interesting street that has been traversed by so many royal feet that it’s been forever known as The Royal Mile.

The creation of the Mile

The Royal Mile could be called the most famous street in Edinburgh. It’s quite a long road that connects Edinburgh Castle at one end with the Palace of Holyroodhouse at the other.

Situated pretty much smack dang in the middle of Edinburgh’s Old Town, the street gets its name from the processional route that Scottish Kings and Queens would take from the comforts of Holyroodhouse to the blustery Edinburgh Castle up on its exposed rock.

The street itself is lined with towering tenements, cobbled closes and narrow wynds. Oddly enough its name gives an idea as to its length. The ‘Royal Mile’ refers to a Scots mile, which is about 1.81km, and even though its longer than what the English define as a mile, the Scots miles hasn’t been used since the 18th century. And many of the buildings along the street show us an example of architecture before even that.

The whole existence of the Royal Mile started with Edinburgh Castle. As the town grew, the population spilled down the side of Castle Rock and eventually developed this main thoroughfare that we know as The Royal Mile. It was actually in 1124 that David I noticed how the clachan or village supported the fort atop the hill by suppling goods to the inhabitants. And so he made the village the Burgh of Eiden a couple years later in 1128. By doing this, he granted the right to trade to the town and Lawnmarket, like the name suggests, became a massive open-air market. He also laid out the High Street, which even back then was known as ‘Via Regis’ which translates to ‘Way of the King’, so it’s thought this is where the ‘Royal Mile’ name originated from.

As we fast forward to 1591, the original timber houses that had lined the street had been replaced with stone ones. But the real problem was overcrowding. As we fast forward about 50 years to 1645 things were only getting worse. By this point there were about 70 000 people living along the Royal Mile. Now it’s a good-sized street, but not 70 000 sized. In order to fit everyone in, the buildings were only going higher and higher, with some buildings reportedly being 14 stories high. And the conditions inside were pretty miserable, supposedly 300 people could be living in one building with up to 10 people living in a single room.

As we get to the late 1800s, we have some restorations starting to take place. Lord Provost William Chambers wasn’t a fan of the state of the Royal Mile in 1865, so he decided he would give it a face lift by carrying out extensive restorations. He built new tenements, demolished old ones and even formed a path so that it was easy to get to the train station from the Mile. Things were going so swimmingly that throughout the 1880s Patrick Geddes, a town planner and Botanist, came to the party. He remodelled the part of the Mile known as ‘Canongate’ by designing courtyards and gardens that were meant to make the Royal Mile look more like it did half a century previous.

The oldest part of the Royal Mile is known as Castlehill. And it’s here where you find the Castle Esplanade, the entrance to Edinburgh Castle, and where you’ll also be able to see the Edinburgh Military Tattoo if you’re around at the right time.

The Royal Mile starts here and heads east down the slope of the geography left behind by the glaciers over 300 million years ago. Placed in the middle of the historic part of Edinburgh, as well as being a part of a World Heritage Site, the Royal Mile and its surrounds are jam packed with cultural and historical significance, not to mention all the things there are to do and see.

The buildings along the Mile

So as we already know the Royal Mile starts at Edinburgh Castle and heads east until it bumps up against the Palace of Holyroodhouse. And as you wander along it, there are a plethora of things to marvel at. There’s the Scottish Storytelling Centre, the Writer’s Museum, Mary King’s Close, the Tron Kirk, John Knox House, the Museum of Edinburgh, and plenty of places to eat and drink if you feel yourself getting a bit peckish along the way. Oh and don’t forget about those closes and wynds, you’ve got places like Riddles Court, Tweedale Court, Bakehouse Close, Dunbar’s Close and so many more.

But back to the main attraction. The Royal Mile itself is separated into clear sections. At the start you’ve got Castlehill and Edinburgh Castle which we’ve already spoken a little about.

Then we’ve got Lawnmarket, which we already know was a pretty popular marketplace, that was actually the best place to buy some good quality linen. It’s about 100 metres long and connects The Hub, which is where the Edinburgh International Festival takes place, to Bank Street, which, you guessed it, takes you to the Bank of Scotland. And because it’s so close to the Castle, Lawnmarket is a pretty good spot for tourists to pick up some souvenirs.

Also located in the Lawnmarket area is Gladstone’s Land. It’s the best surviving example of what a tenement would have looked like in the 17th century and has been preserved as a museum. Back then the best quality apartments would have been in the middle floors with the cheaper ones towards the top of the building and in the basement. As we already know, living conditions in these tenements weren’t spectacular and so it’s great that we have an original surviving tenement to allow us to peer into the past.

As we head further down the Royal Mile we head towards the intersecting road of High Street. It’s here that you’ll find the magnificent St Giles Cathedral, also founded by David I not too long after he founded the Burgh of Eiden. As one of the more popular parts of the mile, it’s also along here that you’ll find the Tron Kirk and a fair few shops, pubs and restaurants.

Then we head down into Canongate, which is actually the least-visited part of the Royal Mile and it’s been much the same throughout its history. Up until 1856, Canongate was actually a separate burgh, it was so separate to the city that it was outside of the city walls. There used to actually be a wall along Jeffrey Street that separated Canongate from Edinburgh. And it’s along Jeffrey Street that you’ll be able to see the brass cobbles indicating where the city gates used to stand. Back then, many people never ventured outside the walls of their city due to the dangers on the outside, so of course the pub that sits directly in front of where the old city gates used to be is called ‘The World’s End’ and is actually one of the oldest pubs in the city.

Then we head to the last part of the Royal Mile, Abbey Strand see’s us wander past the Scottish Parliament as we head towards the Palace of Holyroodhouse. This was where the Scottish Monarchy lived when they wanted a bit more comfort than what was offered in Edinburgh Castle. David I, James IV and Charles II all had something to do with making Holyroodhouse what it is today.

And don’t forget that as you walk along the Royal Mile there is so much more to discover than what we’ve covered very quickly here. You can explore Brodie’s Close, Parliament House, the King Charles II Monument, the Heart of Midlothian, the Brass Rubbing Centre, Huntly House, White Horse Close, there are just so many things I couldn’t possibly list them all here.

The Royal Mile allows us to glimpse the heritage of an ancient city, and don’t feel as if you need to rush it, it will take you at least a couple days of good exploring to take a look at everything. So go for a wander through history and time while barely leaving the one street.

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