White Horse Close

White Horse Close, or "Whitehorse Close", is an enclosed courtyard off the Canongate at the foot of the Royal Mile at the eastern end of the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland.

1. History

It was formerly known as "Ord's Close", after Laurence Ord, the putative builder of the 17th-century inn at its northern end. Because of several conversions to its buildings in the past, the close has been described as "so blatantly fake that it can be acquitted of any intention to deceive". Professor Charles McKean has characterised it as "heritage rather than history". The origin of the name is obscure. The location has been traditionally associated with a royal mews from the time of Mary, Queen of Scots, the name being said to derive from the fact that her favourite white palfrey was stabled there, near the main entrance to the royal palace. It is more likely, however, that the name derives from the "White Horse Inn" which occupied the northern end of the courtyard from at least the 17th century. It has also been suggested that the name may have come from a later 18th century inn sign displaying the White Horse of Hanover. It is recorded that some of the leaders of the Covenanting party in Scotland, including James Graham, earl of Montrose, attempted to set out from the inn in the close for Berwick to parley with King Charles I after the Treaty of Berwick had been signed to end the First Bishops' War in June 1639. Their departure was blocked by a mob which feared the meeting might lead to a betrayal of the principles of the National Covenant. Montrose alone slipped through to join the King, to whom he gradually transferred allegiance. Over a decade later, in 1650, he passed the head of the close again, entering Edinburgh at the foot of the Canongate as a captive on his way to trial and execution for treason. The building bears the date 1632, but this is believed to have been carved when it was restored in the 1930s, the tablet being altered from displaying the more implausible date of 1532. In his Views of Edinburgh, published around 1820, the English engraver James Storer gave the date as 1683, which is more in keeping with the late 17th-century architectural style of the buildings. The dilapidated close was bought by Dr. John Barbour and his sister in 1889, and the inn, with its distinctive forestairs, and the surrounding courtyard buildings were converted into fifteen dwellings for the working class. They were last restored by Frank Mears & Partners between 1961 and 1964.

The inn was the departure point for the stagecoaches that ran between Edinburgh, Newcastle and London in the 18th century. Five arches on the Calton Road side of the building (previously known as the North Back of the Canongate) indicate the former existence of an undercroft which contained the inn's stables, smithy and coach houses. These were accessed from the rear of the building at a considerably lower ground level compared with the courtyard of the close. A small descending flight of steps and narrow pend still connects the courtyard with the rear of the inn building. The inn should not be confused with another inn of the same name (later known as "Boyd's inn" after one of its owners) which existed in St. Mary's Wynd (now St. Mary's Street) near the head of the Canongate between 1635 and 1868. This was where Pasquale Paoli came with Count Burzyuski in September 1771 and James Boswell welcomed Samuel Johnson on his arrival in Edinburgh in August 1773.
The building with a turnpike stair immediately on the right when entering the close was the residence of two Bishops of Edinburgh from the time when the church of St. Giles was a cathedral, namely John Paterson (1632-1708) and Alexander Rose (1647-1720). Tradition maintains that Jacobite officers were billeted in the close during Charles Edward Stuart's occupation of nearby Holyrood Palace during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. A wall plaque inside the close records it as the birthplace in 1793 of William Dick, son of a farrier and founder of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. The close is widely regarded as the most picturesque group of buildings on the Royal Mile, but is often overlooked by visitors to the city who fail to enter the pend which connects it to the Canongate.

1. Restoration

In 1902 the dilapidated buildings were purchased by Dr Alexander Barbour and his sister, both active members of the Edinburgh Social Union. The Union had previously (1897) reorganised the management of Chessels Court to the west, and set about the same for Whitehouse Close using contemporary social ideals. However, the area was still considered a "slum" in 1906 and not until the comprehensive rebuilding of the Canongate in the 1950s and 60s was the courtyard properly restored. This was done as Council housing but under the rights to buy introduced in the 1970s all are now privately owned. The main restoration was undertaken by Sir Frank Mears from 1961 to 1964. A well, found in 1986, is delineated with a circle of cobbles in the courtyard.

1. References


1. External links

RCAHMS site record for White Horse Close on Canmore

Nearby Places View Menu

Whitefoord House

Whitefoord House (or occasionally Whiteford House is an 18th-century former mansion on the Canongate section of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. It stands on the north side of the Royal Mile obscured by more modern buildings, under a backdrop of Calton Hill.

Landmark

Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament (Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlamaid na h-Alba [ˈpʰaːrˠl̪ˠəmɪtʲ nə ˈhal̪ˠapə]; Scots: Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyrood. It is a democratically elected body and its role is to scrutinise the Scottish Government and legislate on devolved matters that are not reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Parliament comprises 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), elected for five-year terms under the regionalised form of Additional-member system (MMP): 73 MSPs represent individual geographical constituencies elected by the plurality (first-past-the-post) system, while a further 56 are returned as list members from eight additional member regions. Each region elects seven party-list MSPs. Each region elects 15 to 17 MSPs in total. The most recent general election to the Parliament was held on 6 May 2021, with the Scottish National Party winning a plurality. The original Parliament of Scotland was the national legislature of the independent Kingdom of Scotland and existed from the early 13th century until the Kingdom of Scotland merged with the Kingdom of England under the Acts of Union 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. As a consequence, the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England were subsumed into the Parliament of Great Britain. In practice, all of the traditions, procedures, and standing orders of the English parliament were retained, with the addition of Scottish members in both the Commons and Lords. Following a referendum in 1997, in which the Scottish electorate voted for devolution, the powers of the devolved legislature were specified by the Scotland Act 1998. The Act delineates the legislative competence of the Parliament – the areas in which it can make laws – by explicitly specifying powers that are "reserved" to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Parliament has the power to legislate in all areas that are not explicitly reserved to Westminster. The UK Parliament retains the ability to amend the terms of reference of the Scottish Parliament, and can extend or reduce the areas in which it can make laws. The first meeting of the reconvened Parliament took place on 12 May 1999. The legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament has been amended numerous times since then. The Scotland Act 2012 and Scotland Act 2016 expanded the Parliament's powers, especially over taxation and welfare. The purpose of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, the most recent amendment, is to constrain the powers of the devolved institutions and restrict the exercise of devolved competences. Its effect is to undermine the freedom of action, regulatory competence and authority of the Parliament, limiting its ability to make different economic or social choices to those made by Westminster.

Government Landmark

Scottish Parliament Building

The Scottish Parliament Building is the home of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in central Edinburgh. Construction of the building commenced in June 1999 and the Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) held their first debate in the new building on 7 September 2004. The formal opening by Queen Elizabeth II took place on 9 October 2004. Enric Miralles, the Spanish architect who designed the building, died before its completion. From 1999 until the opening of the new building in 2004, committee rooms and the debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament were housed in the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland located on The Mound in Edinburgh. Office and administrative accommodation in support of the Parliament were provided in buildings leased from the City of Edinburgh Council. The new Scottish Parliament Building brought together these different elements into one purpose-built parliamentary complex, housing 129 MSPs and more than 1,000 staff and civil servants. From the outset, the building and its construction have been controversial. The choices of location, architect, design and construction company were all criticised by politicians, the media and the Scottish public. Scheduled to open in 2001, it did so in 2004, more than three years late with an estimated final cost of £414 million, many times higher than initial estimates of between £10m and £40m. A major public inquiry into the handling of the construction, chaired by the former Lord Advocate, Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, was established in 2003. The inquiry concluded in September 2004, and criticised the management of the whole project from the realisation of cost increases, down to the way in which major design changes were implemented. The original lintel from Parliament House which housed the Parliament of Scotland until 1707 was installed above the debating chamber in the new parliament building. Despite these criticisms and a mixed public reaction, the building was welcomed by architectural academics and critics. The building aimed to achieve a poetic union between the Scottish landscape, its people, its culture and the city of Edinburgh. The Parliament Building won numerous awards including the 2005 Stirling Prize and has been described by landscape architect Charles Jencks as "a tour de force of arts and crafts and quality without parallel in the last 100 years of British architecture".

Government Historic Site

Queensberry House

Queensberry House is a building of 17th-century origin which is now Category A listed by Historic Environment Scotland. It was built between 1667–1670 as a grand lodging house for Margaret Douglas of Balmakelly, and was later modified in 1681 by Charles Maitland of Hatton. The building has an extensive history, most notably when James Douglas, Earl of Drumlanrig and his son, murdered a kitchen boy in 1707, on the same night the Earl of Drumlanrig signed the Act of Union between the Kingdom of Scotland and Kingdom of England. It stands on the south side of the Canongate, Edinburgh, Scotland, incorporated into the Scottish Parliament complex on its north-west corner. After various ownership changes since its opening, it was acquired by the Scottish Government in 1997 for government use, and contains the office of the Presiding Officer, two Deputy Presiding Officers, the Parliament's Chief Executive, and other staff.

Government Historic Site