FOR almost 200 years, it has been a haven of tranquillity at the heart of Edinburgh’s legal establishment, amid the hustle and bustle of the Royal Mile. The Signet Library, on Parliament Square, is still home to one of the oldest professional bodies in the world, who have had exclusive use of its elegant surroundings.

But in a major break with tradition, its lower library is to be opened to the general public under plans to install a cafe to help generate income for the WS Society, Scotland’s independent association for lawyers. Officials say dwindling demand for the library’s facilities combined with a lack of suitable places for the legal fraternity to meet and do business over a coffee has triggered the move.