York Place is a street 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 ...

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

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

. 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 an line between Newhaven, Edinburgh, Newhaven and Edinburgh Airport, with 23 tram stops, stops. A modern tram network for Edinburgh was proposed by ...

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 private primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Lauriston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff. It was ...

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, bus depot, or bus interchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can st ...

). 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 (; ) 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 ...

(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 temporary

terminus on York Place was removed in 2022 as part of the Trams to

Newhaven Newhaven is a port town in the Lewes district of East Sussex, England, lying at the mouth of the River Ouse. The town developed during the Middle Ages as the nearby port of Seaford began drying up, forcing a new port to be established. A ...

project. A new permanent stop opened on nearby Picardy Place in June 2023 after completion of the line extension.

Notable Buildings

St Paul's and St George's Church St Paul's and St George's Church (known colloquially as "Ps and Gs") is an evangelical church of the Scottish Episcopal Church in central Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located on the corner of Broughton, Edinburgh, Broughton Street and York Place, ...

Archibald Elliot Archibald Elliot (August 1761 – 16 June 1823) was a Scottish architecture, 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 t ...

(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" b ...

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 Limited, a subsidiary of Whitbread, is a British limited-service hotel chain with operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. As of 2025, the company owned and operated over 800 h ...

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

Sir 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 Hol ...

50m eastwards at Picardy Place.

Notable residents

seeEdinburgh Post Office Directories 1800 to 1900 No : * 2 - James Orrock * 6 -

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

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 Sir David Milne and his son Sir Admiral Alexander Milne, 1st Baronet * 10 -

Lady Elizabeth Finch-Hatton Lady Elizabeth Mary Finch-Hatton (''née'' Murray; 18 May 1760 – 1 June 1825) was a British aristocrat and the subject of a notable painting, once thought to be by Johann Zoffany, now attributed to David Martin (artist), David Martin. Ea ...

* 15 - James Bonar WS * 16 - Adam Gillies, Lord Gillies * 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 Di ...

* 20 - Sir James Montgomery, 2nd Baronet * 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 G ...

* 23 -

James Miller (surgeon) James Miller Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, 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 ...

* 23 -

John Yule (botanist) Dr John Yule MD FRSE FRCPE MWS (1762–1827) was an 18th/19th century Scottish physician remembered as a botanist. He specialised in conifers and was the first to academically differentiate larch, spruce and fir. Life He was born in 1762 the ...

* 28 - Rev David Dickson * 30 -

Alexander Gillespie Alexander Gillespie FRSE, FRCSEd (21 March 1776 – 2 September 1859) was a Scottish surgeon. He is one of the few persons to have served two non-consecutive periods as President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He was Presiden ...

* 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 for ...

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

Colvin Smith Colvin Smith RSA (1795 – 21 July 1875) was a Scotland, Scottish portrait painter, portraitist. Life Smith was born at Brechin, in Angus, Scotland, Angus, the son of John Smith, a merchant, and his wife, Cecilia Gillies. He studied art in Lo ...

, artist * 35 -

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 ...

* 36 - James Scarth Combe * 37 - John Starforth architect * 38 -

John Lizars Prof John Lizars FRSE (15 May 1792–21 May 1860) was a Scotland, 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. ...

* 40 - Alexander Osborne the giant * 43 -

* 47 -

Alexander Nasmyth Alexander Nasmyth (9 September 175810 April 1840) was a Scottish portrait and Landscape art, landscape Painting, painter, a pupil of Allan Ramsay (artist), Allan Ramsay. He also undertook several architectural commissions. Biography Nasmyth ...

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 * 55 -

Andrew Geddes (artist) Andrew Geddes (5 April 17835 May 1844) was a Scottish portrait painter and etcher. Life Geddes was born at 7 St Patrick Street in south Edinburgh. After receiving a Classical education movement, classical education at the Royal High School ...

* 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 Old Royal Hi ...

* 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