The Royal Mile Police Box, located on the
Royal Mile in the City of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
, is the most valuable
police box
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 ordinar ...
in the United Kingdom, and one of the most expensive pieces of
real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
in Europe per square foot.
Design
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. 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.
Disposal
Following a general sale of all police boxes (with just one exception)
by
Police Scotland
Police Scotland ( gd, Poileas Alba), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist service ...
, the Royal Mile box was purchased in 2012 by entrepreneur Kit Fraser for £102,000,
and has since been converted into a
ticket booth
A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is fr ...
operated by City of Edinburgh Tours.
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal mile police box
Tourist attractions in Edinburgh
Royal Mile