Gladstone’s Land Edinburgh Photo, Old Town Merchant House Building, Lawnmarket arcaded stone tenement history

Gladstone’s Land Edinburgh : Royal Mile Building

Historic Building on the Lawnmarket, Old Town, Edinburgh, south east Scotland, UK

post updated 29 November 2023

Location: top end of Royal Mile, north side

Address: 477b Lawnmarket, Old Town, central Edinburgh

photo © Adrian Welch

Gladstone’s Land

Gladstone’s Land on the Royal Mile

Contact:

Telephone: +44 (0)131 226 5856

E-mail: information(at)nts.org.uk

Restored six-storey, 17th century merchant house in a traditional arcaded stone tenement building.

Gladstone’s Land is a surviving 17th-century high-tenement house situated in the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has been restored and furnished by the National Trust for Scotland, and is operated as a popular tourist attraction.

The “Land” (sited at 481 and 483 Lawnmarket) was originally built in 1550. The property was bought and redeveloped in 1617 by a prosperous Edinburgh merchant and burgess, Thomas Gledstanes, and his wife, Bessie Cunningham.

The work was completed in 1620. Its prominent siting on the Royal Mile (between Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyrood) and the extent of its accommodation mark out the affluence of its mercantile owner.

Today, the restored building allows an insight into varieties of Edinburgh life of the period. The cramped conditions of the Old Town, and the physical size of the lot, meant that the house could only be extended in depth or in height. As a result, the house is six storeys tall.

Not far from Gladstones Land, up the Royal Mile is Edinburgh Castle