Gladstone’s Land
With my National Trust membership expiring soon, I wanted to make time to take in Gladstone’s Land at the top of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh.
This property has been in in operation as a commercial and social hub for more than 500 years. There is a real sense of stepping back in time when taking the steps up from the pavement and entering the building. Today the ground floor contains an ice cream parlour and coffee shop, while there are four holiday flats on the upper levels. I don’t know what Thomas Gladstone would think if he could see this hive of activity today, having purchased the property in the seventeenth century, but I suspect he would nod approvingly, pleased to see the busy nature of the place continues today.
The property has seen many tenants, and the excellent guide book goes into detail with some fascinating historical background. You can imagine the number of comings and goings in a property with such a central position in the city and there is no mileage in me repeating all of that here. It’s well worth taking time to look it up if interested and if you can make it along for an in-person visit then I thoroughly recommend it.
The earliest reference available indicates a property on this site from 1501, though there would have been other structures occupying this plot before that. The story on display today starts with Thomas and Bessie Gladstone in 1617 who extended the building, creating space for commerce and rental apartments. They lived on the upper floors with their five children.
It’s important to appreciate that throughout the centuries, various types of occupation were featured. The Gladstone’s were involved in the import and export of goods, and the location of the property was ideal for that. The arcade at the front was put in to protect shoppers from the Scottish weather which can be challenging at times. Other tenants traded in foodstuffs and cloths, operated a tavern from the premises. The guidebook has an impressive list of goods from all over the world that came into this property and provide an insight to what life was like here in the 1600’s.
William Struthers, a minister of St GIles’ Cathedral lived here in the early 1600’s. George Langlands was a surgeon and lived here in the early 1700’s. It’s noted that as the 19th century progressed, those on large incomes moved to the New Town, with the occupations of the tenants of Gladstone’s land changing to a mix of skilled craftsmen such as joiners, stone masons and tailors and those with less skills such as labourers. It also saw a rise in occupancy, with the property increasingly self-divided and more people crammed into smaller spaces.
Highlights include three painted ceilings along with sections of the wall dating from around 1620. These are magnificent and remind me of other examples I’ve seen in Culross Palace. I have probably said before but I’m a big fan of grandfather clocks, and I was so pleased to see yet another example on display here. There are windows at the back which overlook the Writers’ Museum and courtyard. I came away from this visit wishing I lived here. There is a real sense of history, I think more so than what I take away from country houses or palaces. I love visiting all historical sites, but the restoration work of Gladstone’s Land has resulted in something quite special, and I couldn’t help but wonder about all the people who had looked out their windows into the Royal Mile centuries before, trying to imagine what their world was like and what they would have seen. It’s fortunate the building has survived and as noted earlier it’s a really busy place with the coffee and ice cream on offer. A worthwhile addition to any tour of the Old Town.
The Fiction Factory 