National Parliament of Scotland Building Architect, Old Town Project Images, Design Info
Old Parliament of Scotland, Edinburgh : Architecture
Photos of Old Parliament building, Old Town, Edinburgh, Scotland
Location: High Street (Royal Mile), city centre
Dates built: 1632 – 1640
View from George IV Bridge of west facade:
building image with lumix camera © Adrian Welch 160207
Old Scottish Parliament
Old Scottish Parliament context – Parliament House
Scottish Parliament building design by Enric Miralles & RMJM as a joint venture
Old Scottish Parliament context: Edinburgh Library, George IV Bridge
building photo © Adrian Welch 2006
Parliament House in the Old Town, is a complex of several buildings housing the Supreme Courts of Scotland. The oldest part of the complex was home to the Parliament of Scotland from 1639 to 1707. It is the world’s first purpose-built parliament building.
Located just off the Royal Mile, beside St Giles’ Cathedral, Parliament House is also the headquarters of the Faculty of Advocates, the Society of Writers to His Majesty’s Signet, and the Society of Solicitors in the Supreme Courts of Scotland. Other buildings in the complex include the Advocates Library and the Signet Library. The entire complex is a Category A Listed building.
Parliament House was built between 1632 and 1640 on the west side of the sloping ground between St Giles’ Cathedral and the Cowgate which was occupied by the burial grounds of St Giles’. The burial grounds had ceased to be used for burials in 1566 (with the exception of the burial of John Knox in 1572).
The building was built on an L-shaped plan, with the main block having three storeys, with the Parliament Hall and the Laigh Hall or Laigh House on the upper two storeys, and below these there was an undercroft. The two-storey south-east wing, known as the Treasury, contained chambers on each floor.
Location: Edinburgh, Midlothian, southeast Scotland, United Kingdom
Buildings close by to the west:
Hotel Missoni, south side of the Royal Mile / High Street
photo © Adrian Welch
Lady Stair’s House, north side of the Royal Mile / High Street
photo © Adrian Welch
Other key buildings close by to the west include Gladstone’s Land and The Hub, both located on the High Street.
Building close by to the southwest:
National Library Edinburgh
image © Adrian Welch
National Library Edinburgh
Augustine Church, George IV Bridge
Augustine Church
Former Scottish Parliament – New College
photo © Adrian Welch
New College in the Old Town
Scottish Parliament – Photos
Comments / photos for the Old Parliament of Scotland Edinburgh located on the High Street in the Scottish Capital city centre page welcome
