Waterloo Place

We met up with some old friends at Howies on Waterloo Place.  The building is part of Archibald Elliot's 1815 design scheme for the whole of Waterloo Place at the east end of Edinburgh.  This particular building was the "Calton Convening Rooms" which were designed and built for the Society of Incorporated Trades of Calton as a replacement for their old rooms which were demolished to make way for Waterloo Place and Regent Bridge. The Society was formed around 1630 to regulate the rights to trade within the Barony of Calton which at that time lay outside the City of Edinburgh. The members included shoemakers, cordiners (bootmakers), brewers and baxters (bakers).  

Waterloo Place is a major example of the Greek Revival work of Archibald Elliot, one of Edinburgh's leading early 19th century architects. 

Frederick Douglass, the American abolitionist, spoke here at a public meeting in May 1846.