ABSTRACT
There are few more evocative neighbourhoods in Edinburgh than the Grassmarket. It was once a market in the valley outside the town gates where livestock could be traded without having to negotiate the steep slopes to the Old Town. After defeat at the Battle of Flodden in 1527, fears of an English invasion led to the city’s defences being extended with the construction of what became known as the Flodden Wall, which looped around the Grassmarket. The motives were as much economic as they were defensive, since this meant that traders coming to market could be taxed. The downside, however, was that the wall would constrain the growth of the city for the next 250 years. The Grassmarket was also the site of public executions, most famously the martyrs of the Covenanting cause. The public houses lining the Grassmarket memorialise this dark history, including the Last Drop Tavern, where the condemned had a last drink, and Maggie Dickson’s, which celebrates the fortunate woman who survived the ordeal and was freed, deemed to have served her sentence. With the demolition of the Flodden Wall in the 18th century, the focus of the city shifted. In Victorian times the Grassmarket became a poor quarter of lodging houses and missions. The relocation of the cattle market in the early 20th century led to a long period of neglect. Despite this, and that fact that few of the surviving buildings predate the late 19th century, the Grassmarket was included in the Old Town Conservation Area, and forms part of Edinburgh’s UNESCO World Heritage Site. A key objective of the Capital Streets Programme was to provide a greater range of activities that would attract families. The designs created a flexible, uncluttered space, using the gentle slope as a rake for performances. A series of pilot events were run over the course of a year to explore the use of the space, including markets, film shows, dance events and concerts. This was successful in helping to rebrand the area in the minds of both locals and visitors. An area of darker paving was laid in the shape of the shadow of the gibbet along and improvements have also been made to the Covenanter Memorial. Parking was removed and pedestrian crossings improved in an approach to design that was simple yet effective, emphasising the historic enclosed form of the medieval marketplace. These careful interventions have had the desired effect. Cafes and restaurants now spill into the space, creating a continental pavement cafe ambience. The bars are still active in the evening but are not allowed to dominate. The space has rediscovered its historic role as a place for the people of Edinburgh to linger, meet and spend time – still a place of entertainment, even if the attraction is no longer public execution.
