Queen Street is the northernmost east-west street in Edinburgh's First New Town. It begins in the east, at the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery National Galleries Scotland: Portrait is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. Portrait holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Collec ...

. It links York Place with the Moray Estate. It was named "Queen Street" after the British queen

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until her ...

, and was so named on James Craig's plan of the New Town issued by the Town Council in 1768. Most early maps repeat this name but others misname it Queen's Street or Queens Street.

History

The street forms part of James Craig's plan of 1768 for a New Town to the north of Edinburgh's Old Town and the North Loch. This had three main east-west streets:

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 ...

; George Street; and Queen Street. Queen Street was planned as a one-sided street, facing north over then fields towards the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

. The first 30 metres beyond the road itself was originally laid out as private individual gardens to some of the Queen Street residents. Not until the opposite side was developed was there pressure to combine these gardens as a communal (but private) garden serving both Queen Street to the south and Heriot Row and Abercromby Place to the north. From 1840 this was known as Queen Street Gardens, which form part the collection of New Town Gardens. The street is planned as four terraces of equal length, originally all three storey and basement in form. Building began at the east end in 1769, one of the first being No 8 which was designed for Baron Orde by

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

, completed in 1771. Feuing continued piecemeal and was complete by 1792.The Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh, by Gifford, McWilliam and Walker The skew on the final two blocks at the west end (leading to North Charlotte Street and from there to

Charlotte Square file:Charlotte Square - geograph.org.uk - 105918.jpg, 300px, Robert Adam's palace-fronted north side Charlotte Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland, part of the New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site ...

) result from an unresolved feuing argument with Lord Moray, who later built the Moray Estate on the land west of Queen Street. When

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

amalgamated with Edinburgh in 1920, the city gained a second Queen Street. This was renamed Shore Place in 1966.

Buildings of note

*1 -

*10 -

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that set the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by royal charter i ...

*28 -

Scotch Malt Whisky Society The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), founded in Edinburgh in 1983, is a membership organisation which bottles and sells single cask, single malt whisky. It purchases individual casks from more than 170 malt whisky distilleries in Scotland a ...

*43 - Former St Andrew's and St George's Church Halls, the streets only Gothic frontage * Yotel - on the site of

The Mary Erskine School The Mary Erskine School (MES) is an all-girls Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1694 and has a roll of around 750 pupils. The majority of its pupils live in the surrounding area ...

Notable residents

* 2 -

Patrick Wilson (architect) Patrick Wilson (c.1798 – 6 February 1871) was a British architect with a long career spanning across the 19th century from the Georgian aesthetic to the Victorian. He was a strong advocate of purpose-built housing for the poor working clo ...

and his son Robert Wilson (demolished) * 2 -

John McLachlan (architect) John McLachlan (6 June 1843 – 13 May 1893) was a Scottish architect, based in Edinburgh operating in the late 19th century. He was a brother-in-law to Robert Morham. He has been described as a "minor master". Life He was born in Thornhill ...

(demolished) * 3 -

Patrick Dudgeon Patrick Dudgeon of Cargen FRSE DL (1817–1895) was a British landowner, mineralogist and meteorologist. He was co-founder with Matthew Forster Heddle of the Mineralogical Society in Great Britain in 1876. He had a specialist interest in min ...

* 8 - Robert Ord (special commission by

) * 8 -

Robert Lee, Lord Lee Robert Lee, Lord Lee FRSE (1 April 1830 – 11 October 1890) was a 19th-century Scottish lawyer and judge. Life Lee was born on 1 April 1830, one of seven children of John Lee (university principal), Rev John Lee, then minister of Lady Yester' ...

* 12 - Hugh Cameron RSA and George Hay RSA * 18 -

James Jardine (engineer) James Jardine (13 November 1776–20 June 1858) was a Scottish civil engineer, mathematician and geologist. He was the first person to determine mean sea level. He built tunnels and bridges, including for the Innocent Railway, and built reservo ...

* 21 - Alexander Keiller (physician) * 22 -

James Lorimer (advocate) James Lorimer of Kellyfield, FRSE LLD (4 November 1818 – 13 February 1890) was a Scottish advocate and professor of public law. He was an authority on international law. He has been credited with coining the concept of international organi ...

* 22 - William Bindon Blood * 22 - Rev K. M. Phin * 22 - Prof Simon Somerville Laurie * 22 - Rev Aeneas Francon Williams and his family * 31 - James Kinnear * 43 - Alexander Moody Stuart * 47 - Charles Neaves, Lord Neaves * 48 - Francis Brodie Imlach * 51 - James Miller (surgeon) * 51 - Arthur Mitchell (physician) * 51 - John Sibbald * 52 - James Young Simpson * 52 - Alexander Russell Simpson * 53 - James Dunsmure (physician) * 55 and 59 -

Dionysius Wielobycki Dionysius Wielobycki (1813 – 16 November 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 ...

* 62 - Robert Frier artist * 64 - Robert Wemyss the

Earl of Wemyss and March Earl of Wemyss ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created in 1633. The Scottish Wemyss family had possessed the lands of Wemyss in Fife since the 12th century. Since 1823 the earldom has been held with the Earldom of March, created in 1 ...

(special Commission) * 66 - General

Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British Army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Trinidad in 1797. Rising to the rank ...

(special commission) * 68 -

George Joseph Bell George Joseph Bell (26 March 177023 September 1843) was a Scottish advocate and legal scholar. From 1822 to 1843 he was Professor of Scots Law at the University of Edinburgh. He was succeeded by John Shank More. Early life George Bell was born ...

* 69 - Patrick Dalmahoy WS and his daughters * 73 - John Henderson (architect)

References

External links

* {{Streets and Squares in Edinburgh, state=collapsed New Town, Edinburgh Streets in Edinburgh