The Old Royal High School: The Parliament That Waited
Why is it significant?
Stand on Regent Road and take in the whole length of this building: a central temple front of Doric columns, long colonnaded wings and terraces stepping along the hillside. Of all the Greek dreams on Calton Hill, this is the one that was actually finished, and it is magnificent.
Key Facts
| Place | The Old Royal High School: The Parliament That Waited |
|---|---|
| Address | 5-7 Regent Road, Edinburgh EH7 5BL, UK |
| Geo Coordinates | 55.95370, -3.18010 |
| Part of Walk | Calton Hill, Edinburgh: Monuments, Martyrs and the Athens of the North |
| Generated | Generated |
Stand on Regent Road and take in the whole length of this building: a central temple front of Doric columns, long colonnaded wings and terraces stepping along the hillside. Of all the Greek dreams on Calton Hill, this is the one that was actually finished, and it is magnificent.
It was built between 1826 and 1829 for the Royal High School, one of the oldest schools in Scotland, which traces its roots back to the twelfth century. The architect, Thomas Hamilton, modelled the central block on the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens. Among the boys who later climbed these steps was Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, born just across town by Charlotte Square.
In 1968 the school moved out to the suburbs, and the building was chosen for a very different job. In the 1970s its great hall was turned into a debating chamber for a planned Scottish Assembly. In the referendum of 1979, a small majority of those who voted said yes, but the law required at least forty per cent of the whole electorate to approve, and that threshold was not reached. The chamber stood ready, and empty.
From 1992 to 1997, on the pavement across the road, campaigners kept up a round-the-clock vigil for a Scottish Parliament, in a makeshift shelter, day and night, for more than five years. In 1997 a second referendum produced a clear yes. Many expected the new Parliament to sit right here. Instead, it was built down in the valley at Holyrood, the building you saw from Regent Terrace, which opened in 2004.
Since then the old school has waited, while the city argued for years about what it should become. Few buildings have stood so long so close to history without quite stepping into it. Continue west along Regent Road toward the tall, sharp-edged building facing you, just before the road reaches Waterloo Place again.