Edinburgh City Chambers in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, is the meeting place of the

City of Edinburgh Council The City of Edinburgh Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Dhùn Èideann'') is the local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Almost half of the council area is the built-up area of Edinburgh, capital of Sco ...

and its predecessors, Edinburgh Corporation and Edinburgh District Council. It is a Category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The current building was originally built as the Royal Exchange, which was funded by subscription and commissioned in 1753. It was designed by John Adam with detail alterations by John Fergus. The building works absorbed many small streets, commonly known in Edinburgh as "closes", that ran north to south across the breadth of the site. The Royal Exchange building sat partially on top of the truncated buildings on the closes that were subsequently blocked-off. These now underground closes were still accessible but were closed for public access for many years until reopened as 'The Real Mary King's Close'. The Exchange was opened by

Lord Provost A lord provost () is the convenor of the local authority, the civic head and the lord-lieutenant of one of the principal cities of Scotland. The office is similar to that of a lord mayor. Only the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Stirlin ...

George Drummond George Drummond may refer to: *George Drummond (politician) (1688–1766), Scottish politician * George Drummond (footballer, born 1865) (1865–1914), Scottish footballer * George Drummond (Cowdenbeath footballer) (c. 1872–1912), Scottish footbal ...

in 1760. The exchange had a coffee shop and shops including a millinery operated by Sibilla Hutton. The Exchange never proved popular with the

merchants A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

, for whom it was built, who persisted in meeting at the

Mercat Cross A mercat cross is the Scots language, Scots name for the market cross found frequently in Scotland, Scottish cities, towns and villages where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or ...

or, rather, where it stood before it was removed in 1756. The Town Council took over the north range in 1811 as the City Chambers and by 1893 had bought the whole building. The City Chambers initially housed Edinburgh Town Council from 1893 to 1895, when that body was replaced by Edinburgh Corporation. It remained the Corporation's headquarters until it was replaced by

Edinburgh District Council The City of Edinburgh Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Dhùn Èideann'') is the local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Almost half of the council area is the built-up area of Edinburgh, capital of Sco ...

under the wider

Lothian Lothian (; ; ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, while other signific ...

Regional Council in May 1975. It then remained the Edinburgh District Council headquarters until the abolition of the Lothian Region led to the formation of Edinburgh City Council in April 1996. The City Chambers were used as a filming location for the film ''

Braveheart ''Braveheart'' is a 1995 American epic film, epic historical drama, historical war drama film directed and produced by Mel Gibson, who portrays Scottish warrior William Wallace in the First War of Scottish Independence against Edward I of Engl ...

'' in 1995 and for the TV series ''

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dangerous pla ...

'' in 2019.

Architecture

The main building is set back from the High Street behind a quadrangle fronted by a groin-vaulted open

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

screen facing the street. There is a prominent bronze statue of ''Alexander Taming Bucephalus'', by

John Steell Sir John Robert Steell (Aberdeen 18 September 1804 – 15 September 1891) was a Scottish sculptor. He modelled many of the leading figures of Scottish history and culture, and is best known for a number of sculptures displayed in Edinburgh, ...

, in the quadrangle. This was modelled in 1832 but not cast in bronze until 1883. It stood in St Andrew Square until 1916. The "Stone of Remembrance", within the arcade on the High Street, commemorates residents of the royal burgh who lost their lives in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The monument was unveiled by Prince Henry on

Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark Armistice of 11 November 1918, the armistice signed between th ...

in 1927. The bronze statue in the north east corner of the quadrangle is of General Stanisław Maczek, a Polish

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

tank commander who was instrumental in the Allied liberation of France, and who lived in Edinburgh for the last 46 years of his life. The statue, which was unveiled in 2018, is the work of the Polish sculptor, Bronislaw Krzysztof. Most of the interior and all of the main Council Chambers date from 1875 to 1890 and are by the City Architect of the time,

Robert Morham Robert Morham (31 March 1839 – 5 June 1912) was the City Architect for Edinburgh for the last decades of the nineteenth century and was responsible for much of the “public face” of the city at the time. His work is particularly well re ...

. He also built the north-west wing in 1898 and the arched arcade fronting the courtyard in 1901. The east and west wings on the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is the nickname of a series of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The term originated in the early 20th century and has since entered popular usage. The Royal ...

are by the later City Architect

Ebenezer James MacRae Ebenezer James MacRae (18 January 1881 – 15 January 1951) was a Scottish people, Scottish architect serving as City Architect for Edinburgh for most of his active life. Life He was the son of Rev Alexander MacRae of the Free Church of Scotl ...

in the 1930s. The west wing replaced the printworks of William Chambers where

Chambers Dictionary ''The Chambers Dictionary'' was first published by William and Robert Chambers as ''Chambers's English Dictionary'' in 1872. It was an expanded version of ''Chambers's Etymological Dictionary'' of 1867, compiled by James Donald. A second editio ...

was first published.Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh vol. II p. 223 File:The Edinburgh City Chambers, High Street Edinburgh.jpg, The former Royal Exchange, Edinburgh File:Edinburgh City Chambers from Cockburn Street.jpg, Edinburgh City Chambers from

Cockburn Street Cockburn Street ( ) is a street in Edinburgh's Old Town, created as a serpentine link from the High Street to Waverley Station in 1856. Originally named Lord Cockburn Street after the then recently deceased Scottish lawyer, judge and litera ...

File:Alexander & Bucephalus by John Steell.JPG,

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

and

Bucephalus Bucephalus (; ; – June 326 BC) or Bucephalas, was the horse of Alexander the Great, and one of the most famous horses of classical antiquity. According to the '' Alexander Romance'' (1.15), the name "Bucephalus" literally means "ox-h ...

File:Maczekbench.jpg, The bench and statue of General

Stanisław Maczek Lieutenant General Stanisław Władysław Maczek (; 31 March 1892 – 11 December 1994) was a Polish tank commander of World War II, whose division was instrumental in the Allied liberation of France, closing the Falaise pocket, resulting in the ...

File:Edinburgh City Chambers DSCF2568.jpg, Main staircase File:City of Edinburgh District Council Chamber - geograph.org.uk - 2622651.jpg, Council chamber File:City of Edinburgh District Council Chamber - geograph.org.uk - 2622654.jpg, Council chamber File:Fireplace in the Council Chamber - geograph.org.uk - 2622512.jpg, Fireplace in the Council Chamber, surmounted by a painting of the

Royal coat of arms of Scotland The coat of arms of Scotland, colloquially called the Lion Rampant, is the coat of arms historically used as arms of dominion by the monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland, and later used within the coat of arms of Great Britain and the present co ...

References

{{Government buildings in Edinburgh Politics of Edinburgh Royal Mile City chambers and town halls in Scotland Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh Listed government buildings in Scotland Government buildings in Edinburgh Neoclassical architecture in Scotland Government buildings completed in 1761

History

Architecture

See also

References