Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
E2
Shopping
A4
E2
42
Jenners
E3
43
John Lewis
G2
44
Princes Mall
E3
F2
F3
C3
B4
PRINCES STREET
Princes St is one of the world's most spectacular shopping streets. Built up on the north
side only, it catches the sun in summer and allows expansive views across Princes Street
Gardens to the castle and the crowded skyline of the Old Town.
The western end of Princes St is dominated by the red-sandstone edifice of the Caledo-
nian Hilton Hotel and the tower of
St John's Church
, worth visiting for its fine Gothic
Revival interior. It overlooks
St Cuthbert's Parish Church
, built in the 1890s on a site of
great antiquity - there has been a church here since at least the 12th century, and perhaps
since the 7th century. There is a circular
watchtower
in the graveyard - a reminder of the
Burke and Hare days when graves had to be guarded against robbers.
At the eastern end is the prominent clock tower - traditionally three minutes fast so you
don't miss your train - of the
Balmoral Hotel
(originally the North British Hotel, built by
the railway company of the same name in 1902) and the beautiful 1788
Register House
,
designed by Robert Adam, with a statue of the Duke of Wellington on horseback in front.
It houses the National Archives of Scotland and the Scotlands People genealogical re-
search centre.
Princes Street Gardens
lie in a valley that was once occupied by the Nor' Loch, a
boggy depression that was drained in the early 19th century. The gardens are split in the
middle by
The Mound
, which was created from around two million cartloads of earth ex-
cavated from the foundations of the New Town and dumped here to provide a road link
across the valley to the Old Town. It was completed in 1830.
