A Circus came to town.

The circus did come to town when the extension to the New Town was planned and built. No longer the straight lines that James Craig imagined for his New Town of the 1760’s, curves were now acceptable.

Royal Circus is a beautiful curved street of Georgian houses and apartments on the North side of Edinburgh’s New Town bisected by the busy North West Circus Place. These properties – much sought-after today – housed the great and the good of the capital city’s society, from doctors and solicitors to businessmen and church ministers.

But I want to show you what is to the rear of the East side of the Circus where the horses, drivers, footmen and stable lads lived and worked in service to their well-off employers. Circus Lane is where the master of the

house would request his horse and carriage to take him into the city centre. A walk down here (as part of a guided walk with www.edinburghwalks.com ) and you can imagine the hubbub, the smells and the sight of domestic staff at work.

With the wide doors to allow access to the carriages and the horses, to the small upper windows and small chimney pots of the staff quarters these beautiful terraces were definitely built for purpose. They are now occupied as offices and residences and the sound of hooves no longer rattle on the cobbles. Many of the stables have now become garages.

At the East end of the Circus Lane, turn left and you will get a better view of the church whose tower overlooks the Lane. Now an A-listed building St. Stephen’s Church was built between 1827-1828 to the design by William Henry Playfair . The clocktower is 162 feet high and is reputed to have the longest pendulum in Europe. Now no longer a place of religious worship, the building was bought recently and is being used as a community arts venue. During the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – part of the world’s largest arts festival – the venue is very busy. As a further example of their community use, “Stockflea” a flea market will be held there on the 10th/ 11th September 2016 as part of Stockfest, the annual Stockbridge festival.

 

If you get a chance, you should make your way down to this part of the city……….