Old Royal High School

This was taken in New street, which is just off the Canongate in Edinburgh. I was struck by the grandeur of the Old Royal High School on Calton Hill and the overgrown vacant site surrounded by graffiti down below it.

Both sites are a bit unloved although the old Royal High still at least retains the look of being a grand building of Edinburgh. I suppose it still is a grand building, but without much of a purpose at the moment. It was planned that it would become the home of the Scottish Assembly after the devolution vote of 1979, but that never happened. In 1999 when the Scottish Parliament opened it was decided that it would not use this building, but instead base itself temporarily at the Mound in the Church of Scotland building until the new parliament was built.

The Royal High School was built between 1826 and 1829 and is now an A-listed building, which is probably part of the reason it has been difficult to find a permanent use for it.