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St Andrew Square is a
garden square A garden square is a type of communal garden in an urban area wholly or substantially surrounded by buildings; commonly, it continues to be applied to public and private parks formed after such a garden becomes accessible to the public at large. ...
in
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 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 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), ...
, designed by James Craig. Within six years of its completion St Andrew Square became one of the most desirable and most fashionable residential areas in the city. As the 19th century came to a close, St Andrew Square evolved into the commercial centre of the city. Most of the square used to be made up of major offices of banks and insurance companies, making it one of the major financial centres in Scotland. At one time, St Andrew Square could claim to be the richest area of its size in the whole of Scotland.Lang, p.125 The gardens are owned by a number of private parties and belong to the collection of New Town Gardens. They were made open to the public in 2008 and are managed by Essential Edinburgh. The square has several shops, including the department store
Harvey Nichols Harvey Nichols Group Limited ( trading as Harvey Nichols) is a British luxury department store chain founded in 1831 by Benjamin Harvey; it is headquartered at its flagship store in Knightsbridge, London. It sells designer fashion collections ...
and the designer precinct Multrees Walk. It is also home to The Edinburgh Grand Hotel and apartments, as well as a series of London chain restaurants and bars on its south side, such as Hawksmoor, Drake & Morgan, Dishoom and The Ivy.


Points of interest

Dominating the centre of St Andrew Square is the fluted column of the Melville Monument, commemorating Henry Dundas, the first Viscount Melville. The Melville Monument is surrounded by St Andrew Square Gardens, recently redesigned and opened to the public. The Building Plot, Pillar and Statue is owned by The Melville Monument Naval Committee. On the east side of the square stands the impressive mansion of Dundas House, built by Sir William Chambers for Sir Lawrence Dundas between 1772 and 1774. Once the intended site for St Andrew's Church, Dundas House became the head office of 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 ...
in 1825. Architectural features of Dundas House are represented today on the "Ilay" series of banknotes issued by the Royal Bank; the building's
Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
facade features on the obverse of each note, as the background graphic on both sides of the notes is a radial star design which is based on the ornate ceiling of the banking hall inside Dundas House, designed by John Dick Peddie in 1857. A short distance from Dundas House, down George Street, is where St. Andrew's Church was built in 1784. In 1806 the head office of the
British Linen Bank The British Linen Bank was a commercial bank based in the United Kingdom. It was acquired by the Bank of Scotland in 1969 and served as the establishment's merchant bank arm from 1977 until 1999. History Foundation The Edinburgh-based British ...
moved to St Andrew Square. The building was a branch of the
Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial bank, commercial and clearing (finance), clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group. The bank was established by the Par ...
until 2016. St. Andrew Square was also home to the
National Bank of Scotland The National Bank of Scotland was founded as a joint stock bank in 1825. Based in Edinburgh, it had established a network of 137 branches at the end of its first hundred years. In 1918 the bank was bought by Lloyds Bank (historic), Lloyds Ban ...
, which was headquartered at No. 42, until it merged with the Royal Bank of Scotland in 1969. Beneath the eastern streets of the square lies the long disused Scotland Street Tunnel, which continues under the New Town to Canonmills. The tunnel was built in 1847 as part of the Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway. Its southern end was demolished in the 1980s during the construction of the Waverley Market shopping centre.


Notable residents

Many famous Scots occupied the residences of St Andrew Square. On the north side of the square, No. 21 was the birthplace of Lord Henry Brougham in 1778. His family was one of the first families to take up residency in St Andrew Square. Another resident was philosopher and economist
David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist who was best known for his highly influential system of empiricism, philosophical scepticism and metaphysical naturalism. Beg ...
, friend of architect
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 ...
. Hume was persuaded to move to St Andrew Square by Adam with the hopes that the recruitment of such a powerful person would induce others to cross from 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 ...
to the New Town and St Andrew Square. Hume chose a site on the southwest side of the square at the corner of
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 ...
and an unnamed street (later named St David Street).Daiches, p.130 Also on the north side, No. 26 was the home to architect Sir William Chambers.


Transport

St Andrew Square has been used as a transport hub for a number of years. The original St Andrew Square Bus station was demolished in 2000, with a modern replacement opening to the public in 2003.


Buses

Edinburgh Bus Station is located to the east of the square. It is served by long-distance bus & coach operators, such as Scottish Citylink and Stagecoach East Scotland. Local bus services have stops to the west side of the square on North St David Street & South St David street.


Tram

St Andrew Square tram stop is an island platform located on the east side of the square. It is the nearest stop for Edinburgh Waverley railway station which lies approximately 250m to the south, and for Edinburgh bus station which is 50m to the north. Trams from here run west through the city to
Edinburgh Airport Edinburgh Airport is an international airport located in the Ingliston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located west of the city centre, just off the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 and M9 motorway (Scotland), M9 motorways. It is owned and oper ...
, and north to Leith and Newhaven.


References


Bibliography

*Campbell, Donald. ''Edinburgh: A Cultural and Literary History''. Northampton, MA: Interlink Books, 2004. *Catford, E. F. ''Edinburgh: The Story of a City''. London: Hutchinson & Co. Ltd., 1975. *Daiches, David. ''Edinburgh''. London: Hamish Hamilton Limited, 1978. *Geddie, John. ''Romantic Edinburgh''. 2nd ed. Edinburgh (London, Glasgow): Sands & Co., 1911. *Lang, Theo, ed. ''The Queen’s Scotland: Edinburgh and the Lothians''. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1952. *Wilson, Neil, and Tom Smallman. ''Edinburgh''. 2nd ed. Footscray, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd., 2002. *Youngson, A. J. ''The Making of Classical Edinburgh: 1750 – 1840''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1968. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Andrew Square, Edinburgh Squares in Edinburgh 1772 establishments in Scotland Edinburgh Trams stops New Town, Edinburgh Odonyms referring to religion