Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
chatter of excited children, it covers serious issues related to childhood - health, educa-
tion, upbringing 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.
John Knox House
(
www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk
;
43-45 High St; adult/child £4.25/1; 10am-6pm
Mon-Sat year-round, noon-6pm Sun Jul & Aug)
The Royal Mile narrows at the foot of
High St beside the jutting facade of John Knox House. This is the oldest surviving tene-
ment in Edinburgh, dating from around 1490. John Knox, an influential 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.
HISTORIC BUILDING
MUSEUM
People's Story
(
www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk
; 163 Canongate; 10am-5pm Mon-Sat year-round,
2-5pm Sun Aug)
One of the surviving symbols of Canongate's former independence is the
Canongate Tolbooth
. Built in 1591 it served successively as a collection point for tolls
(taxes), a council house, a courtroom and a jail. With picturesque turrets and a projecting
clock, it's an interesting example of 16th-century architecture. It now houses a fascinating
museum called the People's Story, which covers the life, work and pastimes of ordinary
Edinburgh folk from the 18th century to today.
MUSEUM
Museum of Edinburgh
(
www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk
; 142 Canongate; 10am-5pm Mon-Sat year-round,
2-5pm Sun Aug)
You can't miss the colourful facade of Huntly House, newly renovated in
bright red and yellow ochre, opposite the Tolbooth clock. Built in 1570, it houses a mu-
seum covering Edinburgh from its prehistory to the present. Exhibits of national import-
ance include an original copy of the National Covenant of 1638, but the crowd-pleaser is
the dog collar and feeding bowl that once belonged to
Greyfriars Bobby
, the city's most
famous canine citizen.
