Edinburgh

New Town

By the 18^th century Edinburgh was overcrowded with the only possible expansion, due to the constraints of the Flodden Wall, being up the way. Dirt and disease was also becoming a major problem.

George Drummond made plans for the expansion of Edinburgh soon after he became Lord Provost in 1725 and proposals were published in 1752 detailing how this problem would be tackled. The initial plan would be to develop northwards, beyond the Nor' Loch, which was drained - a process that started in 1759 and took about sixty years to complete.

Then in 1766, following a public competition, a plan for the first phase of this New Town, by 22-year-old architect James Craig, was published. This proposed two main squares, St. Andrew’s to the east and St. George’s to the west, with three main streets running parallel between them. These were George Street, which was named in honour of George III, with Queen Street to the north and Princes Street to the south.

These streets were named to show the link between Scotland and England following the Union of Parliaments in 1707. To continue the theme, three streets ran north to south across the main three streets - Frederick Street named after the king and his father; Hanover Street named after the royal family; and Castle Street.

The streets to the north and south would only be developed on one side to allow uninterrupted views of Edinburgh Castle and the Old Town, to the south, and the Firth of Forth and Fife, to the north. Between Princes Street and the castle would be Princes Street Gardens, where the Nor’ Loch had previously been. To the north is the private Queen Street Gardens.

Joining the New and the Old  Towns are North Bridge and The Mound. North Bridge was built between 1763 and 1772 to join the Old Town with the Port of Leith - it now connects the Old Town with the eastern end of Princes Street. The Mound, which cuts through the middle of Princes Street Gardens, gets its name from the fact it was built on a mound of earth that was excavated when the foundations of the New Town were built.

Development of the New Town continued until 1830 and was extended a number of times - firstly to the north of Queen Street in 1801; to the west in 1822; in the Calton area to the east.

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