The Royal Mile - Canongate
The Canongate has probably existed for over a millenium initially as a rough track running eastwards down the rocky 'tail' of the Castle Rock. The surrounding area was once shrub, mire and part of the forest of Drumselch, with Arthur's Seat, part of an ancient volcany, rising to the south.
In the 17th century Edinburgh was over crowded. Tenements 8 or 9 storeys tall were crammed together in the Old Town. These were often of wood and had steep, narrow and filthy stairs. There was a major outbreak of the plague in 1645.
It became popular with the nobility, 'noble and genteel families', to move their town houses out to the Canongate. Here spacious buildings were possible with gardens and orchards. It was also close to the palace and the Scottish Court. The standard of the buildings were enforced by Acts of Parliament: one in 1621 ensured that houses should be covered in slates, stone or lead and another in 1677 that houses should not be built of wood or thatch because of the risk of fires.
Water was supplied from local wells, with water caddies employed to carry water up the stairs of the lands. The first piped water didn't appear in Edinburgh until 1694.
In 1767 an Act of Parliament allowed the building of Edinburgh's New Town, across the Nor Loch, to start. In 1772 the North Bridge was completed. From the end of the eighteenth century there was a gradual decline in the whole area.
Through the arch in the photo is St John’s Street. Sadly there is nothing of architectural interest in that street now, though once this was a most privileged area. The street was established in 1767 when the terrace of tenements on the eastern side of this street was begun.
As the Victorian era came to a close St John Street went into decline as the prosperous families moved out and poorer families moved in. The surrounding area became industrial with the development of breweries, foundries, glass works and gas works. Following the Great Depression and two world wars the area became increasingly run down in the twentieth century.
The Royal Mile - Canongate
The Canongate has probably existed for over a millenium initially as a rough track running eastwards down the rocky 'tail' of the Castle Rock. The surrounding area was once shrub, mire and part of the forest of Drumselch, with Arthur's Seat, part of an ancient volcany, rising to the south.
In the 17th century Edinburgh was over crowded. Tenements 8 or 9 storeys tall were crammed together in the Old Town. These were often of wood and had steep, narrow and filthy stairs. There was a major outbreak of the plague in 1645.
It became popular with the nobility, 'noble and genteel families', to move their town houses out to the Canongate. Here spacious buildings were possible with gardens and orchards. It was also close to the palace and the Scottish Court. The standard of the buildings were enforced by Acts of Parliament: one in 1621 ensured that houses should be covered in slates, stone or lead and another in 1677 that houses should not be built of wood or thatch because of the risk of fires.
Water was supplied from local wells, with water caddies employed to carry water up the stairs of the lands. The first piped water didn't appear in Edinburgh until 1694.
In 1767 an Act of Parliament allowed the building of Edinburgh's New Town, across the Nor Loch, to start. In 1772 the North Bridge was completed. From the end of the eighteenth century there was a gradual decline in the whole area.
Through the arch in the photo is St John’s Street. Sadly there is nothing of architectural interest in that street now, though once this was a most privileged area. The street was established in 1767 when the terrace of tenements on the eastern side of this street was begun.
As the Victorian era came to a close St John Street went into decline as the prosperous families moved out and poorer families moved in. The surrounding area became industrial with the development of breweries, foundries, glass works and gas works. Following the Great Depression and two world wars the area became increasingly run down in the twentieth century.