Royal Mile Edinburgh photos, Scottish Capital buildings history, Architects, Old Town images
Royal Mile Edinburgh Architecture
Edinburgh’s most famous street, Scotland, UK
post updated 7 May 2025
The Royal Mile is a historic street in Edinburgh Old Town, stretching from the Castle to the Palace.
photo © Adrian Welch
Royal Mile Architecture
Contents of this page: Royal Mile Architecture + Conference + History
Royal Mile Buildings: Edinburgh Old Town Architecture Tour
selection at base of this page
Royal Mile Edinburgh: historic plan, usage approved by Charles McKean
The famous Old Town ‘herringbone pattern’ drawing (above), shows the skeletal structure of the High Street. It’s backbone follows the glacial crag-and-tail ridge line from the volcanic plug of Edinburgh Castle rock down to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. There are hundreds of vennels or closes running off it.
Notable buildings on the Royal Mile include, from the top (west):- Edinburgh Castle, Parliament Square, St Giles Cathedral, Tron Kirk, John Knox’s House, Canongate Kirk, Scottish Parliament and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
The Royal Mile is named Lawnmarket, High Street and Canongate from west to east. The street is mostly cobbled and used to be much wider, especially around St Giles Cathedral.
St Giles Cathedral: middle of Royal Mile
St Giles Cathedral photograph © Adrian Welch
Lady Stair’s House: top of Royal Mile
Scottish Writers Museum picture © Adrian Welch
Riddle’s Court, towards the top end of the street:
photo from EWHT
Edinburgh Castle: top of the High Street
Edinburgh Castle photograph © AW
Tron Kirk, Hunter Square, on the south side of the street, around its middle:
Tron Kirk Edinburgh image © AW
Gladstone’s Land – Lawnmarket, on the north side of the street, around the top end:
Old Town Merchant’s building photo © Adrian Welch
City Chambers – former CEC Headquarters, on the north side of the street, around its middle:
City Chambers property photo © AW
Edinburgh Court buildings
Edinburgh Court buildings photograph © AW
John Knox House Edinburgh – located in the middle of the High Street, on the north side:
John Knox House picture © AW
The Hub
The Hub image from Ben Tindall Architects
Radisson Hotel Edinburgh
Radisson hotel building picture © AW
Old Town Housing street frontage image © Adrian Welch
Holyrood North site – Holyrood Masterplan
Under 5’s Centre
Former Royal Mile building – George IV building : middle of the High Street:
building photo © Adrian Welch
Royal Mile Edinburgh : Buildings
Primary School, Canongate
Primary School photo © AW
Canongate School
79-121 Canongate
79-121 Canongate photograph © AW
Whitefoord House
Whitefoord House picture © AW
Whitehorse Close
Whitehorse Close photo © Adrian Welch
Whitehorse Close
Waterman House
Waterman House building photo © Adrian Welch
Scottish Capital Building Designs
Contemporary Scottish Capital Property Designs – recent architectural selection below:
Design: John Robertson Architects (JRA)
image courtesy of architects office
British Medical Association HQ Edinburgh
Royal Mile Regeneration : Comments from Cockburn Association Director, 2002
Royal Mile building: Palace of Holyroodhouse
Edinburgh Walking Tours – Scottish capital city walks – tailored and pre-booked
Buildings / photos for the Edinburgh Royal Mile Architecture in south east Scotland, United Kingdom, pages welcome
