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Princes Street () is one of the major thoroughfares in central
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
,
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's
New Town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...
, stretching around 1.2 km (three quarters of a mile) from
Lothian Road The A700 road is a short but important link skirting Edinburgh City Centre between the A8 and A7 roads. Route The road begins at the West End junction at the terminus of the A8 and heads south then east comprising the streets of Lothian Road ...
in the west, to Leith Street in the east. The street has few buildings on the south side and looks over
Princes Street Gardens Princes Street Gardens are two adjacent public parks in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland, lying in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. The Gardens were created in the 1820s following the long draining of the Nor Loch and building of the New Town, ...
allowing panoramic views of the
Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...
,
Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...
, as well as the valley between. Most of the street is limited to
trams A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
, buses and taxis with only the east end open to all traffic.


History


18th century

The street lies on the line of a medieval country lane known as the Lang Dykes and under the first plan for the New Town was to have been called St Giles Street after the patron saint of Edinburgh. However, when King
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
was shown a print or drawing of the proposed New Town by Sir John Pringle, he objected to the name as he associated it with the notorious slum area of
St Giles, London St Giles is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Camden. It is in Central London and part of the West End of London, West End. The area gets its name from the parish church of St Giles in the Fields. The combined p ...
. At Pringle's suggestion, the street was instead named Prince's Street after King George's eldest son, Prince George, Duke of Rothesay (later
King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...
) as recounted in his 1767 letter to the Lord Provost of Edinburgh. By the late 1830s the apostrophe in the name (which had also sometimes been written as Princes' Street) had largely fallen out of use, giving the street its present day name of Princes Street. The apparent plurality in the name has given rise to various erroneous explanations of the name. It was laid out according to formal plans for
Edinburgh's New Town 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 Neoclassicism, neo-classical and Georgian architecture, Georgian period architecture. Its ...
, now known as the First New Town. These were devised by the architect
James Craig James or Jim Craig may refer to: Entertainment * James Humbert Craig (1877–1944), Irish painter * James Craig (actor) (1912–1985), American actor * James Craig (''General Hospital''), fictional character on television, a.k.a. Jerry Jacks * J ...
and building began around 1770. Princes Street represented a critical part of the plan, being the outer edge, facing
Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...
and the original city, Edinburgh Old Town. Originally all buildings had the same format: set back from the street with stairs down to a basement and stairs up to the ground floor with two storeys and an attic above. Of this original format only one such property, no.95, remains in its original form.


19th century

Through the 19th century most buildings were redeveloped at a larger scale and the street evolved from residential to mainly retail uses. From the 1880s the street, with its commanding views in combination with great ease of access, became a popular street upon which to locate hotels. The railway companies created huge anchor hotels at either end: the Caledonian Hotel to the west, and
North British Hotel The Balmoral Hotel is a hotel and landmark in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located in the heart of the city at the east end of Princes Street, the main shopping street beneath the Edinburgh Castle rock, and the southern edge of the New Town. It ...
to the east. In between were the Royal British Hotel, Old Waverley Hotel, and Mount Royal Hotel, all of which survive. Princes Street was also home to two leading department stores,
Jenners Jenners was a department store in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on Princes Street. It was Scotland's oldest independent department store until the retail business was acquired by House of Fraser in 2005. It closed in December 2020 and was vacat ...
founded in 1838 and rebuilt in 1893–1895, and
Forsyth's R. W. Forsyth, often just called Forsyth's, was a group of department stores founded in Glasgow in 1872. The business expanded into Edinburgh in 1906 and London in 1925. Robert Wallace Forsyth Robert Wallace Forsyth was born Inveresk, Eas ...
built in 1906–1907, both technically advanced and architecturally ornate buildings for their time.


20th century

By the 1930s the architecture of Princes Street had a very mixed character. The Abercrombie Plan of 1949 proposed tighter control of design to create a more coherent appearance. This theme was taken up by the Princes Street Panel, whose 1967 report proposed comprehensive redevelopment with
Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
buildings to incorporate a first-floor level walkway, theoretically doubling the shopping frontage. The plan was partially put into operation, resulting in the demolition of seven old buildings, and the erection of seven new, before the approach was dropped in the 1970s. Two of the new buildings, British Home Stores at number 64, and the
New Club The New Club is a private social club in the New Town, Edinburgh, New Town area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded in 1787, it is Scotland's oldest club. The club occupied premises on St Andrew Square from 1809 until 1837, when it moved to purpo ...
at numbers 84–87, are now
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
s. There has been controversy over buildings from the latter half of the 20th century on Princes Street. This has prompted plans to demolish the BHS and the Marks & Spencer buildings, in an effort to improve the status of the street. Another problem has been that upper floors are often used for storage, rather than as office, retail or living space. At an early stage in post-
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
designs for the street, a "high level walkway" was planned, as a further shopping frontage for the first floor level, in lieu of the other side of the street. However the walkway as built was never more than a number of isolated balconies and in practice the
Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...
was the only business to maintain a frontage at this level for any length of time; that branch of the bank closed early in the 21st century, leaving the upper walkway largely forgotten. Princes Street was the scene of rioting in 2005 related to the
31st G8 summit The 31st G8 summit was held on 6–8 July 2005 at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland and hosted by Prime Minister Tony Blair. The locations of previous G8 summits to have been hosted by the UK include: London (1977, 1984, 1991); an ...
referred to in the press as "The Battle of Princes Street".


21st century

Several UK well-known high street brands such as
Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...
, H&M, and
Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...
, are located on Princes Street. A couple of new hotels are destined to open on Princes Street in 2022, including the Red Carnation Hotel at 100 Princes Street. On 25 January 2021, it was announced that
Jenners Jenners was a department store in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on Princes Street. It was Scotland's oldest independent department store until the retail business was acquired by House of Fraser in 2005. It closed in December 2020 and was vacat ...
department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...
, which has been located on Princes Street since
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...
times, was to close on May 3, 2021, in preparation for a three-year-long redevelopment. Also on 25 January, it was announced that
Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain that operated in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, as well as franchised locations across Europe and the Asia Pacific. The company was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and gr ...
's department store on Princes Street would also close in May 2021. It was also announced on 25 January, that the administrator for troubled Arcadia group that own
Topman Topman is a British online-only men's fashion retail brand operated by ASOS. Along with its women's clothing counterpart Topshop and the rest of Arcadia Group, Topman went into administration in late 2020. All high street stores subsequently c ...
and
Topshop TOPSHOP (originally Top Shop) is a British online fast-fashion retailer, which specialises in women's clothing, shoes and accessories. It is majority owned by Danish company, Bestseller. In 2024, ASOS sold 75% of Topshop and Topman to Bests ...
(also located on Princes Street) were in talks with online shopping brand
ASOS ASOS or Asos may refer to: * Asos, a village in Greece * ASOS (retailer), a UK online fashion store * '' A Storm of Swords'', a book in the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' saga by G. R. R. Martin * Action short of strike, industrial action undertake ...
with a view to selling the brands online, leaving the historic Edinburgh street losing recognisable brands, with many now migrating to the newly opened
St James Quarter St James Quarter is a large galleria retail shopping centre and residential development in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is situated in the east end of the New Town, Edinburgh, New Town. History The site is built on the site of the St. J ...
.


Princes Street Gardens and south side

During the construction of the New Town, the polluted waters of the
Nor Loch The Nor Loch, also known as the Nor' Loch and the North Loch, was a man-made loch formerly in Edinburgh, Scotland, in the area now occupied by Princes Street Gardens and Edinburgh Waverley railway station, Waverley station which lie between t ...
were drained, and the area was converted into private gardens called
Princes Street Gardens Princes Street Gardens are two adjacent public parks in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland, lying in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. The Gardens were created in the 1820s following the long draining of the Nor Loch and building of the New Town, ...
. This was taken over by the Edinburgh Council in the late-nineteenth century, by which time most of the street was commercial and there was no great need for private residential gardens. The width of Princes Street was greatly increased soon after, onto what was the northern edge of the gardens. Due to the much lower position of the gardens this led to the creation of the steep embankment on the north side, still visible today. The gardens are one of the many green spaces in the heart of Edinburgh. The Gardens contain the Ross Bandstand (an open-air theatre), a
war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...
to US soldiers of Scottish descent and a
floral clock A floral clock, or flower clock, is a large decorative clock with the clock face formed by carpet bedding, usually found in a park or other public recreation area. Most have the mechanism set in the ground under the flowerbed, which is then pla ...
, together with other attractions. Two of the main Scottish art galleries, the
Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...
and the
National Gallery of Scotland The National (formerly the Scottish National Gallery) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by William Henry Playfa ...
, are located at the foot of
The Mound The Mound is an artificial slope and road in central Edinburgh, Scotland, which connects Edinburgh's New and Old Towns. It was formed by dumping around 1,501,000 cartloads of earth excavated from the foundations of the New Town into Nor Loc ...
and are served by Princes Street tram stop. Further along is the
Scott Monument The Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. It is the second-largest monument to a writer in the world after the José Martí monument in Havana. It stands in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, opp ...
, a huge intricate Gothic monument dedicated to
Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
, the author of the
Waverley Novels The Waverley novels are a long series of novels by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832). For nearly a century, they were among the most popular and widely read novels in Europe. Because Scott did not publicly acknowledge authorship until 1827, the se ...
, after which is named
Waverley station Edinburgh Waverley (also known simply as Edinburgh; ) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. The station serves as the northern terminus of the East C ...
, which lies at the east end of the Gardens, its westward lines dividing them. Next to the station on its north side is the former railway hotel, previously known as the ''North British Hotel'', latterly renamed the
Balmoral Hotel The Balmoral Hotel is a hotel and landmark in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located in the heart of the city at the east end of Princes Street, the main shopping street beneath the Edinburgh Castle rock, and the southern edge of the New Town. It ...
, and the North Bridge which sails at high level over the station. The hotel has a counterpart at the extreme west end of Princes Street. The Caledonian Hotel, now the
Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh - The Caledonian The Caledonian Edinburgh is a five-star hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland. Opened in 1903, it is an example of a British grand railway hotel. Nicknamed "The Caley", it stands at the west end of Princes Street and is a category A listed building. ...
, sits at the north end of Lothian Road. This was built by the
Caledonian Railway The Caledonian Railway (CR) was one of the two biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It was formed in 1845 with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively ex ...
for their Princes Street Station which closed in the 1960s along with the lines it served. At the west end of Princes Street, St John's Episcopal Church at the corner of Lothian Road is built at street level above a basement crypt and a small churchyard. In addition, there are several fair trade outlets in this space as part of the church, whilst St Cuthbert's Church stands just to the south of it, in a far larger and older churchyard, west of the gardens. The
floral clock A floral clock, or flower clock, is a large decorative clock with the clock face formed by carpet bedding, usually found in a park or other public recreation area. Most have the mechanism set in the ground under the flowerbed, which is then pla ...
dates from 1903 when it was first planted by the Park Superintendent, John McHattie. It displays a different theme every summer. Princes Street remains popular, although it has now fallen from its status as the most expensive place to rent shop space in the UK outside of London. Princes Street may be one of the few streets in the UK to have an order of
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
placed on it to prevent any further building on the south side, so as to preserve its open vista.


Transport


Road

Only the eastern third of Princes Street is open to general traffic. The main length is restricted to trams, buses, taxis and cyclists only.


Rail

Edinburgh Waverley railway station Edinburgh Waverley (also known simply as Edinburgh; ) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. The station serves as the northern terminus of the East C ...
lies at the eastern end of Princes Street.


Tram

The Princes Street tram stop is an in-road island, situated just west of the
Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...
near the foot of the Mound.


Buses

Princes Street is the focus of the majority of bus routes served by
Lothian Buses Lothian Buses is a major bus operator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom: the City of Edinburgh Council (through Transport for Edinburgh) owns 91%, Midlothian Council 5%, East Lothia ...
. Edinburgh Bus Station is around north of the east end of Princes Street, in the north-east corner of
St Andrew Square St Andrew Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland located at the east end of George Street. The construct of St Andrew Square began in 1772,Lang, p.124 as the first part of the New Town, designed by James Craig. Within six years of ...
.


Connections

* One of the main streets of the New Zealand city of
Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...
is named
Princes Street Princes Street () is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three quar ...
after the street in Edinburgh. Dunedin is the Gaelic form of Edinburgh's name (Dùn Èideann) and many of Dunedin's streets duplicate Edinburgh street names. * In 1970, James H. Howe composed a march for military band, called "Pride of Princes Street". * A
stone run A stone run (called also ''stone river'', ''stone stream'' or ''stone sea''East Falkland East Falkland () is the largest island of the Falkland Islands, Falklands in the South Atlantic, having an area of or 54% of the total area of the Falklands. The island consists of two main land masses, of which the more southerly is known as L ...
in the
Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...
was named "Princes Street" by
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
, who studied at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
. It is around four miles (6 km) long, and he thought it reminded him of the stone
setts A sett, also known as a block or Belgian block, is a broadly rectangular quarried stone used in paving roads and walkways. Formerly in widespread use, particularly on steeper streets because setts provided horses' hooves with better grip th ...
of Princes Street.Stone, Phillip.
Periglacial Princes Street – 52° South.
''The Edinburgh Geologist''. Issue No 35, 2000.


Popular culture

* The opening scene of the 1996 film ''
Trainspotting Trainspotting may refer to: * Trainspotting (hobby), an amateur interest in railways/railroads * ''Trainspotting'' (novel), a 1993 novel by Irvine Welsh ** ''Trainspotting'' (film), a 1996 film based on the novel *** ''Trainspotting'' (soundt ...
'' shows the main character Mark Renton being chased by shop security guards along Princes Street. * Sylvain Chomet's 2010 film '' The Illusionist'' features animated scenes depicting Princes Street as it was in the late-1950s.


Famous residents

The street was originally built as a residential street and for the first 70 years held several notable residents: *1 –
Richard Poole (physician) Richard Poole (1781–1870) was a Scottish physician, psychiatrist, and phrenologist. Life Poole was born in Edinburgh, on 27 November 1781, from an English background. His father Matthew Poole (or Pool) owned a coffee house and hotel at 1 Princ ...
*2 – John Croall, famous coach-builder *3 – Very Rev John Drysdale *17 –
Alexander Cowan Alexander Cowan (17 June 1775 – 13 February 1859) was a Scottish papermaker and philanthropist. He was the 13th child and third surviving son of Charles Cowan (8 June 1735 – 23 February 1805) and Marjory Cowan nee Fidler (16 July 1734 – 3 ...
's paper shop *38 – John Grieve,
Lord Provost of Edinburgh The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is elected by and is the convener of the City of Edinburgh Council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the Lord-Lieutenant of ...
*51 – Sir George Home (d.1803) and
James Syme James Syme (7 November 1799 – 26 June 1870) was a Scottish pioneering surgeon. Early life James Syme was born on 7 November 1799 at 56 Princes Street in Edinburgh. His father was John Syme WS of Cartmore and Lochore, estates in Fife ...
*65 – Robert Scott (engraver) and Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee and William Fraser Tytler *66 – Robert Bryson & Son, clockmakers *68 –
Henry Erskine (lawyer) The Honourable Henry Erskine (1 November 1746 – 8 October 1817) was a Scottish advocate and British Whig politician. Background and education Erskine was the third but second surviving son of Agnes, daughter of Sir James Steuart, 7th Baronet ...
*85 –
James Donaldson (publisher) Sir James Donaldson (10 December 1751 – 16 December 1830) was a Scottish printer and newspaper publisher. He bequeathed a large part of his estate to the founding of Donaldson's College, Donaldson's Hospital. Early life Donaldson was bo ...
*85 –
Thomas Elder (Lord Provost of Edinburgh) Thomas Elder of Forneth (1737–29 May 1799), was a Scottish wine merchant who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1788 to 1790. Life Elder was the eldest son of Elizabeth (née Man) and William Elder of Loaning. The exact date of his b ...
*87 – Rev
Thomas Randall Davidson Thomas Randall Davidson (1747–1827) was a Church of Scotland minister and landowner. Life He was born Thomas Randall in July 1747, the son of Rev Thomas Randall (b.1710), minister of Inchture west of Dundee. Early education was at least i ...
of
Muirhouse Muirhouse is a housing estate in the north of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Location The housing estate of Muirhouse (Pennywell and Muirhouse) is bounded by Muirhouse Parkway to the North, Pennywell Road to the East, Ferry Road to the So ...
*90 – Hamilton & Inches, jeweller *92 –
Alexander Handyside Ritchie Alexander Handyside Ritchie (16 April 1804 – 24 April 1870) was a Scottish sculptor born in Musselburgh. Life Ritchie was born in Musselburgh in 1804, the son of James Ritchie, a local brickmaker and ornamental plasterer, and his wife Euphem ...
, sculptor *93 –
Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe (15 May 1781 – 17 March 1851) was a Scottish antiquary and artist. Life He was the second son of Charles Sharpe (originally Charles Kirkpatrick) of Hoddam, Dumfriesshire, by Eleonora, youngest daughter of John Rento ...
, antiquarian *95 –
Robert Liston Robert Liston (28 October 1794 – 7 December 1847) was a British surgeon. Liston was noted for his speed and skill in an era prior to anaesthesia, anaesthetics, when speed made a difference in terms of pain and survival. He was the first Pro ...
, surgeon *103 –
James Maidment James Maidment (1793 in London – 1879 in Edinburgh) was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British antiquary and collecting, collector. He passed through Edinburgh University to the Scottish bar, and was chief authority on genealogical cases. Mai ...
. legal author *113 –
William Bonnar William Bonnar Royal Scottish Academy, RSA (1800 – 27 January 1853) was a Scottish Portrait painting, portrait painter. Life Bonnar was born in Edinburgh in 1800. His father was Thomas Bonnar a house-painter and interior designer of consider ...
, artist *126 –
William Forbes Skene William Forbes Skene Writer to the Signet, WS FRSE Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, FSA(Scot) Doctor of Civil Law, DCL Legum Doctor, LLD (7 June 1809 – 29 August 1892), was a Scotland, Scottish lawyer, historian and antiquary. He co-found ...


Historic shops

*58 –
Alexander Adie Alexander James Adie FRSE MWS (7 November 1775, Edinburgh – 4 December 1858, Edinburgh) was a Scottish maker of medical instruments, optician and meteorologist. He was the inventor of the sympiesometer, patented in 1818. Life He was born t ...
, optician


Long-standing shops

*2–7 – Woolworths now converted to the
Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of Retail, retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell, service and repair various Apple products, including Macintosh, Mac desktop and MacBook laptop personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad ta ...
*62 – Romanes & Paterson since 1874 *
Jenners Jenners was a department store in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on Princes Street. It was Scotland's oldest independent department store until the retail business was acquired by House of Fraser in 2005. It closed in December 2020 and was vacat ...
since 1838 but rebuilt in 1895. Closed 2022. Damaged by fire 2023. *120 – Saxone Shoes


References

{{Transport in Edinburgh New Town, Edinburgh Streets in Edinburgh Shopping streets in Scotland Tourist attractions in Edinburgh Edinburgh Trams stops