The Grassmarket is a broad street in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. Lying within a part of the city designated as a World Heritage Site, it preserves the medieval street pattern. Yet for the visitor the Grassmarket isn’t just a historic site. It’s become known as a thriving location for shoppers as well as sightseers – and it’s particularly well known for its pubs.
What to See in the Grassmarket
The Grassmarket owes its name to its history as a market place. In its time it has functioned as both a corn market and a cattle market (the beasts being driven in along the narrow Cowgate to the east). At either end streets feed in– Victoria Street from the Royal Mile, Cowgate from Holyrood, and King’s Stables Road and the West Port leading into the old town from the West End and the suburbs.
More than just a historic marketplace, the Grassmarket is surrounded by a mix of old and modern buildings. The oldest, on the corner of Victoria Street, dates from the early 1500s though the other buildings are later, with most of the northern and eastern ends of the street dating from the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries. The newer buildings on the south side, such s the Apex International Hotel, bring a more modern feel to an old street.
General ambience aside, the Grassmarket is popular for the views which it offers of the castle (reached by cutting through the narrow wynds and up the many steep steps). At the eastern end, in a narrow alley called the Vennel, is another reminder of the castle’s defensive role – the old city wall, built after the Scots’ defeat at the battle of Flodden in 1513, runs up the steep hill to Lauriston Place.
The street has its monuments. The cobbled junction with Victoria Street houses the Bow Well, Edinburgh’s first piped water supply. Built in 1681 it was later remodelled, though to its original design. Nearby is the Covenanters’ Memorial, built into the pavement in memory of the so-called Covenanters – seventeenth century religious dissenters, over 100 of whom were hanged here after being imprisoned in the nearby Greyfriars churchyard.
The Covenanters Memorial marks the site of one of the city’s gallows, where wrongdoers were hanged. Here one Maggie Dickson was hanged – but lived, and gave her name to a nearby pub. Here, too, the unfortunate Captain Porteous of the Edinburgh Town Guard was hanged by a lynch mob after they deemed he had been insufficiently punished for ordering his men to fire on a crowd.
Grassmarket Pubs and Accommodation
With its history as a market place, the Grassmarket has always been full of pubs, frequented by famous and infamous names. Burns visited here, as did William Wordsworth; and the body snatchers Burke and Hare sought their victims in some of the local drinking dens. Some of the better known venues include:
- The Beehive, thought to have had a drinks licence since the sixteenth century
- The White Hart, possibly the oldest of them all, claiming to have been founded shortly after Holyrood Abbey (thirteenth century)
- The Last Drop, named for the gallows which it overlooks, is reputedly haunted.
The south side of the Grassmarket is dominated by the four-star Apex International Hotel; but there are other hotels within easy reach. These range from budget options, such as the Holiday Inn in the Cowgate to the luxury options such as the Missoni on George IV Bridge. There’s also plenty of self-catering accommodation available in and around the Grassmarket.
Grassmarket – Shopping and Events
It’s always been a market – and it continues to be just that. Monthly outdoor markets are held in the pedestrian-friendly open space, with other occasional specials, such as Christmas weekend events. There are plenty of shops too; the street seems to specialise in quirky, characterful outlets selling a range of goods from cashmere and hand knits right the way through to kites and fossils.
The markets aren’t all there is. Edinburgh is a festival city, with twelve of them running throughout the year. For the film festival the Grassmarket becomes an outdoor cinema and there are live performances as part of the Jazz Festival. And the Festival Fringe brings it even more to life with a range of events and street theatre.
All in all, the Grassmarket has something for everyone. Whether you’re into history or shopping, whether you prefer to eat in a historic vault or outside on a pavement, whether you take your drink in a chic modern bar or a haunted pub, it’s close to being the perfect tourist location – and popular with the locals too.
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