Queen Street, Edinburgh

Queen Street is an early east-west street in the Edinburgh New Town. It begins just west the Scottish National Portrait Gallery on York Place. It was named after Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the wife of George III of the United Kingdom.

Queen Street, Edinburgh

Maps first record it as Queen's Street but as the first "s" is effectively silent in this it became known as "Queen Street" by 1900.

Up until 1922 the city had a second Queen Street in the Leith district but this was then renamed as Shore Place.

History

The street forms part of James Craig's plan of 1760 for a New Town, outwith the walls of Edinburgh's Old Town. This had three main east-west streets: Princes Street; George Street; and Queen Street.

Queen Street was a one-sided street, facing north over then fields towards the Firth of Forth. The first 30 metres beyond the road itself was originally laid out as private individual gardens to some of the Queen Street residents.[1] Not until the opposite side was developed was there pressure to combine these gardens as a communal (but private) garden serving both Queen Street and Heriot Row residents. This pressure was mainly from the Heriot Row residents who had north-facing and heavily overshadowed gardens. From 1840 this was known as Queen Street Gardens.[2]

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. Sadly this first building (certainly the most important on the street) was replaced by a modern office by Reiach & Hall in the 1970s, whose only saving grace is that it looks vaguely Georgian. The rest of the street is largely intact. Feuing was complete by 1792.[3]

No 8 was designed for Baron Orde by Robert Adam in 1770 and completed in 1771.

The skew on the final two blocks at the west end (leading to North Charlotte Street and from there to Charlotte Square) result from an unresolved feuing argument with Lord Moray, who later built the Moray Eastate on the land west of Queen Street.

Buildings of Note

Notable Residents

References
  1. John ainslie's plan of Edinburgh 1804
  2. New Town Gardens, The, Queen Street Gardens, Edinburgh, Scotland, accessed 16 November 2018
  3. The Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh, by Gifford, McWilliam and Walker


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