64 Accessible Edinburgh: A Festival Guide Sights 65
Edinburgh Castle
http://www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk; Castle Esplanade; adult/child
£16.50/9.90, audioguide £3.50; 9.30am-6pm Apr-Sep, to 5pm
Oct-Mar, last admission 1hr before closing; buses 23, 27, 41, 42
Edinburgh Castle has played a pivotal role in Scottish history,
both as a royal residence – King Malcolm Canmore (r 1058–93)
and Queen Margaret first made their home here in the 11th cen-
tury – and as a military stronghold. The castle last saw military
action in 1745; from then until the 1920s it served as the British
army’s main base in Scotland. Today it is one of Scotland’s most
atmospheric and most popular tourist attractions.
The brooding, black crags of Castle Rock, rising above the
western end of Princes St, are the very reason for Edinburgh’s
existence. This rocky hill was the most easily defended hilltop
on the invasion route between England and central Scotland, a
route followed by countless armies from the Roman legions of
the 1st and 2nd centuries AD to the Jacobite troops of Bonnie
Prince Charlie in 1745.
The Entrance Gateway, flanked by statues of Robert the
Bruce and William Wallace, opens to a cobbled lane that leads up
beneath the 16th-century Portcullis Gate to the cannons ranged
along the Argyle and Mills Mount batteries. The battlements here
have great views over the New Town to the Firth of Forth.
At the far end of Mills Mount Battery is the famous One
O’Clock Gun, where crowds gather to watch a gleaming WWII
25-pounder fire an ear-splitting time signal at exactly 1pm (every
day except Sunday, Christmas Day and Good Friday).
South of Mills Mount, the road curls up leftwards through
Foog’s Gate to the highest part of Castle Rock, crowned by the
tiny, Romanesque St Margaret’s Chapel, the oldest surviving
building in Edinburgh. It was probably built by David I or Alex-
ander I in memory of their mother, Queen Margaret, some time
around 1130 (she was canonised in 1250). Beside the chapel
stands Mons Meg, a giant 15th-century siege gun built at Mons
(in what is now Belgium) in 1449.
The main group of buildings on the summit of Castle Rock is
ranged around Crown Sq, dominated by the shrine of the Scot-
tish National War Memorial. Opposite is the Great Hall, built for
James IV (r 1488–1513) as a ceremonial hall and used as a meet-
ing place for the Scottish parliament until 1639. Its most remark-
able feature is the original, 16th-century hammer-beam roof.
The Castle Vaults beneath the Great Hall (entered via the Pris-
ons of War exhibit) were used variously as storerooms, bakeries
and a prison. The vaults have been renovated to resemble 18th-
and early 19th-century prisons, where graffiti carved by French and
American prisoners can be seen on the ancient wooden doors.
On the eastern side of the square is the Royal Palace, built
during the 15th and 16th centuries, where a series of histori-
cal tableaux leads to the highlight of the castle – a strongroom
housing the Honours of Scotland (the Scottish crown jewels),
among the oldest surviving crown jewels in Europe. Locked away
in a chest following the Act of Union in 1707, the crown (made in
1540 from the gold of Robert the Bruce’s 14th-century coronet),
sword and sceptre lay forgotten until they were unearthed at the
instigation of the novelist Sir Walter Scott in 1818. Also on display
here is the Stone of Destiny.
Among the neighbouring Royal Apartments is the bedcham-
ber where Mary, Queen of Scots gave birth to her son James VI,
who was to unite the crowns of Scotland and England in 1603.
Even though the castle is an historic building at the top of a
steep slope, there is good access to many but not all of its main
sites. A mobility vehicle is available for visitors unable to manage
the castle’s steep slopes and there is a limited number of wheel-
chairs available, but booking for both is strongly advised. Note,
too, that pushing a wheelchair up steep cobbled roadways is
hard work! Braille guides, large-print guides and audioguides are
available; assistance dogs are welcome; and carers enter free.
For full details on accessibility visit http://www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk/
visit/access-for-all.
Reviewers give the castle a five-star rating for its efforts, in-
cluding tactile replicas of the crown jewels (accessed via a lift for
PRMs), spotlessly clean, modern accessible toilets and ramps to
as many areas as is practicable, as well as the helpfulness of its
staff. But do beware of the cobbles, even in a power chair.Gladstone’s Land
NTS; http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/Gladstones-Land; 477 Lawnmar-
ket; adult/child £6.50/5; 10am-6.30pm Jul & Aug, to 5pm Apr-
Jun & Sep-Oct; buses 23, 27, 41, 42One of Edinburgh’s most prominent 17th-century merchants was
Thomas Gledstanes, who in 1617 purchased the tenement later
known as Gladstone’s Land. It contains fine painted ceilings, walls
and beams, and some splendid furniture from the 17th and 18th
centuries. The volunteer guides provide a wealth of anecdotes and
a detailed history. There’s wheelchair access only to the ground
floor; access to the 1st floor and gallery is via a spiral staircase.