York Place, Edinburgh (2) (14281344743) (2)

York Place is a street in central

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

of almost exclusively 18th century buildings, linking Queen Street to

Broughton Street Broughton Street is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located between Congress Street to the north and State Street to the south, it runs for about from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the west to East Broad Stre ...

and

Leith Walk Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the centre of the city to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the street to the ...

. The street's architecture remains almost completely intact but it is one of the busiest streets in the city centre being part of the main east-west route for traffic together with the

Edinburgh Trams Edinburgh Trams is a tramway in Edinburgh, Scotland, operated by Edinburgh Trams Ltd. It is a line between St Andrew Square in the New Town and Edinburgh Airport, with 15 stops. Construction began in June 2008, and after encountering delays ...

line and several bus services.

History

York Place was developed as a dual sided street on the north-east edge of Edinburgh's First New Town. The land was purchased by the city from

James Erskine, Lord Alva James Erskine, Lord Barjarg and Alva (20 June 1722 – 13 May 1796) was an 18th-century Scottish lawyer who rose to be a Senator of the College of Justice. For convenience his name was usually contracted to James Erskine, Lord Alva. Life He ...

in 1793 and it was joined by the

Heriot Trust George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staf ...

which also owned land here. Work began immediately and was complete by 1804 (other than the church (see below). The street is little altered. The only major change has been the demolition of the east side of Elder Street on the south side including the east corner with York Place, in 1969 (to improve access to the

bus station A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is l ...

). In 1888 a tram system was introduced. Originally drawn by underground cables the system was invisible except for the rails and central channel (for the cable). This all changed in 1921 following unification of Edinburgh and

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

(which had electric trams since 1905) when a complex of poles and wires were added, to the severe detriment of the streetscape. These poles and cables were removed in 1956 following the demise of the trams. More conscious of the issue of "street clutter" the planners removed all lamp-posts from the street in the 1970s. The street is lit by high level floodlights mounted at eaves level on the buildings. The clutter of the trams reappeared in 2017 with the

project.

Notable Buildings

* St Paul's and St George's Church by

Archibald Elliot Archibald Elliot (August 1761 – 16 June 1823) was a Scottish architect based in Edinburgh. He had a very distinctive style, typified by square plans, concealed roofs, crenellated walls and square corner towers. All may be said to derive from ...

(built as St Paul's Chapel, 1816) * St George's Episcopal Chapel by James Adam in 1792 with a new front added in 1934, now in use as a Genting Casino * 7 York Pl - St George's manse, an unusual castellated house immediately east of the chapel (1793 remodelled in 1818 by Alexander Laing for his own use) * 1 to 3 York Place, an exceptional corner block by

David Paton David Paton (; born 29 October 1949) is a Scottish bassist, guitarist and singer. He first achieved success in the mid-1970s as lead vocalist and bassist of Pilot, who scored hits with "Magic", "January", "Just a Smile" and "Call Me Round" bef ...

featuring three lower commercial floors with more glass than wall * 44 York Place built as a tax office in 1964, remodelled as a

Premier Inn Premier Inn is a British limited service hotel chain and the UK's largest hotel brand, with more than 72,000 rooms and 800 hotels. It operates hotels in a variety of locations including city centres, suburbs and airports competing with the like ...

in 2018 * 72 York Place - Conan Doyle public house - linked to the birthplace of

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

50m eastwards

Notable residents

seeEdinburgh Post Office Directories 1800 to 1900 * 2 -

James Orrock James Orrock Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, R.I., R.O.I. (1829 – 10 May 1913), was a prominent Scottish people, Scottish collector of art and oriental ceramics, illustrator and landscape watercolourist. The scale of his involve ...

* 6 -

Thomas Meik Thomas Meik ( – )Thomas Meik
''Grace's Guide''. Retrieved: 8 October 2015. was a 19th-century Scottish eng ...

civil engineer * 7 -

Alexander Laing (architect) Alexander Laing (13 June 1752 – 10 September 1823)Alexander Laing
at ScottishArchire ...

* 10 - David Milne * 10 - William Craig, Lord Craig * 10 - Admiral David Milne and his son Admiral Alexander Milne * 15 - James Bonar WS * 16 -

Adam Gillies, Lord Gillies Adam Gillies, Lord Gillies (1760–1842) was a Scottish judge. Life He was born in Brechin, Forfarshire on 29 April 1766, the son of Margaret (née Smith) and Robert Gillies, he was the younger brother of historian John Gillies. Gillies wa ...

* 19 -

John Abercrombie (physician) John Abercrombie (10 October 1780 – 14 November 1844) was a Scottish physician, author, philosopher and philanthropist. His Edinburgh practice became one of the most successful medical practices in Scotland. The ''Chambers Biographical D ...

* 20 -

Sir James Montgomery, 2nd Baronet Sir James Montgomery, 2nd Baronet Stanhope, FRSE (9 October 1766 – 27 May 1839) was a Scottish politician and lawyer who served as Lord Advocate of Scotland 1804 to 1806. Life James Montgomery was born in Peebleshire on 9 October 1766, the ...

* 21 -

James Archer (artist) James Archer RSA (10 June 1823 – 3 September 1904), was a Scottish painter of portraits, genre works, landscapes and historical scenes. Life James Archer was born in Edinburgh, the first of four children to Andrew Archer, a dentist, and ...

* 22 -

Alexander Irving, Lord Newton Alexander Irving, Lord Newton FRSE (1766–1832) was a Scottish judge who served as professor of civil law at Edinburgh University from 1800 to 1826. He was a Senator of the College of Justice. Life He was born on 12 October 1766, the son of Geo ...

* 23 -

James Miller (surgeon) James Miller FRCSEd, FRSE (2 April 1812 – 17 June 1864) was a surgeon and medical author in Edinburgh. He was author of the important 19th century textbook, ''Principles of Surgery''. Like his father he became a member of the Free Church of ...

* 23 - John Yule (botanist) * 28 - Rev David Dickson * 30 - Alexander Gillespie * 32 -

Sir Henry Raeburn Sir Henry Raeburn (; 4 March 1756 – 8 July 1823) was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland. Biography Raeburn was born the son of a manufacturer in Stockbridge, on the Water of Leith: a fo ...

artist (as his studio and sales room) * 32 -

Colvin Smith Colvin Smith RSA (1795 – 21 July 1875) was a Scottish portraitist. Life Smith was born at Brechin, in Angus, the son of John Smith, a merchant, and his wife, Cecilia Gillies. He studied art in London at the Royal Academy Schools and worked ...

, artist * 33 -

John Lizars Prof John Lizars FRSE (15 May 1792–21 May 1860) was a Scottish surgeon, anatomist and medical author. He was Professor of surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and senior surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He perfo ...

* 35 -

Dionysius Wielobycki Dionysius Wielobycki (1813–1882) was a 19th century Polish doctor living in Scotland. A controversial homeopath during a period of scientific focus, his adventurous life ranged from being a soldier in the November Uprising and being a noted a ...

* 36 -

James Scarth Combe James Scarth Combe FRSE, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, FRCSEd (1796–1883) was a British surgeon. He was the first person to give an accurate description of pernicious anaemia and to recognise that atrophic gastritis was a feature of ...

* 37 -

John Starforth John Starforth (1822-1898) was an English-born architect and architectural author associated solely with work in Scotland, mainly working in Lothian, Dumfries & Galloway, and the Scottish Borders. Life He was born in the town of Aukland near ...

architect * 40 - Alexander Osborne the giant * 43 -

* 47 -

Alexander Nasmyth Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants li ...

and his sons

James Nasmyth James Hall Nasmyth (sometimes spelled Naesmyth, Nasmith, or Nesmyth) (19 August 1808 – 7 May 1890) was a Scottish engineer, philosopher, artist and inventor famous for his development of the steam hammer. He was the co-founder of Nasmyth, ...

and

Patrick Nasmyth Patrick Nasmyth, (7 January 1787 – 17 August 1831), was a Scottish landscape painter. He was the eldest son of the artist Alexander Nasmyth. Life Nasmyth was one of the eleven children of Barbara and Alexander Nasmyth of Edinburgh. His si ...

* 57 -

Thomas Hamilton (architect) Thomas Hamilton (11 January 1784 – 24 February 1858) was a Scottish architect, based in Edinburgh where he designed many of that city's prominent buildings. Born in Glasgow, his works include: the Burns Monument in Alloway; the Royal ...

* 61 - Lady Sinclair of Murkle * 61 - Frederick Hallard, legal author

References

{{coord, 55.95623, N, 3.19044, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title New Town, Edinburgh Streets in Edinburgh