70 Accessible Edinburgh: A Festival Guide Sights 71
John Knox House
http://www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk; 43-45 High St; adult/child
£5/1; 10am-6pm Mon-Sat year-round, noon-6pm Sun Jul & Aug;
bus 35
The Royal Mile narrows at the foot of High St beside the jutting
facade of John Knox House. This is the oldest surviving tenement
in Edinburgh, dating from around 1490. John Knox, an influen-
tial church reformer and leader of the Protestant Reformation
in Scotland, is thought to have lived here from 1561 to 1572. The
labyrinthine interior has some beautiful painted-timber ceilings
and an interesting display on Knox’s life and work.
John Knox House is now part of the Scottish Storytelling Cen-
tre, home of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival and
Tradfest. It’s also a host venue for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The venue is fully accessible to wheelchair users, except the
upper floors of John Knox House, which can be viewed via an in-
teractive virtual tour on the ground floor. The main entrance has
steps, so access is via the John Knox House shop. Audio loops
are available in reception and all performance areas, and there’s
Braille signage throughout. Detailed access information can be
found at ww.tracscotland.org/sites/default/files/Access%20
Statement.pdf.
Being on the Royal Mile, parking is limited, but bus services
pass close by. If you have a Blue Badge, you’d best park on High St.
Mercat Cross
Bus 35
Outside the eastern end of St Giles Cathedral stands the Mercat
Cross, a 19th-century copy of the 1365 original, where merchants
and traders met to transact business, and Royal Proclamations
were read. In a revival of this ancient tradition, the coronation of
Queen Elizabeth II was proclaimed here by costumed officials in
- When (and if) Princes Charles becomes king, his accession
will also be proclaimed at the Mercat Cross.
Museum of Childhood
0131-529 4142; http://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk; 42 High St;
10am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun; bus 35
Halfway down the Royal Mile is ‘the noisiest museum in the
world’. Often filled with the chatter of excited children, it covers
serious issues related to childhood – health, education, up-
bringing etc – but also has an enormous collection of toys, dolls,
games and books, recordings of school lessons from the 1930s,
and film of kids playing street games in 1950s Edinburgh.
Galleries One to Three are fully accessible. There are stairs to
galleries Four and Five. There is an accessible toilet.Museum of Edinburgh
0131-529 4143; http://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk; 142 Canongate;
10am-5pm Mon-Sat year-round, noon-5pm Sun Aug; bus 35You can’t miss the colourful facade of Huntly House, brightly
renovated in red and yellow ochre, opposite the Tolbooth clock
on the Royal Mile. Built in 1570, it houses a museum covering
Edinburgh from its prehistory to the present. Exhibits of national
importance include an original copy of the National Covenant
of 1638, but the big crowd-pleaser is the dog collar and feeding
bowl that once belonged to Greyfriars Bobby, the city’s most
famous canine citizen (p66).
Unfortunately, this museum is not wheelchair-accessible.Museum on the Mound
http://www.museumonthemound.com; The Mound; 10am-5pm Tue-Fri,
1-5pm Sat & Sun; buses 23, 27, 41, 42Housed in the Bank of Scotland’s splendid Georgian HQ, this
museum is a treasure trove of gold coins, bullion chests, safes,
banknotes, forgeries, cartoons and lots of fascinating old docu-
ments and photographs charting the history of Scotland’s oldest
bank.
The museum is fully wheelchair-accessible and has induction
loops and large-print guides, as well as an accessible toilet. There
is free parking for Blue Badge holders in Market St and Giles St.
Corridors and exhibition areas are spacious, and exhibits are rel-
atively well viewable from wheelchair height. For detailed access
information, including photographs, visit http://museumonthe-
mound.com/sites/default/files/pdf/AccessStatement.pdf.
Note the word ‘mound’: it’s on a fairly steep hill with no park-
ing close by. The nearest bus stop is about 100m away.National Museum of Scotland
http://www.nms.ac.uk; Chambers St; fee for special exhibitions; 10am-
5pm; buses 2, 23, 27, 35, 41, 42, 45Broad, elegant Chambers St is dominated by the long facade
of the National Museum of Scotland. Its extensive collections
are spread between two buildings: one modern, one Victorian.