Royal Mile - Castle Esplanade and Castlehill

Castle Esplanade and Castlehill

The Castle Esplanade was begun to be formed, as a parade ground, in 1753 with spoil from the building of the Royal Exchange (now the City Chambers). It was formalised in 1816 when it was widened and provided with decorative railings and walls. The Esplanade along with its several monuments is an A-listed building by Historic Scotland. It is the venue of the annual Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Cannonball House is notable for a cannonball lodged in the wall, often said to have been accidentally fired from the Castle but which actually marks the elevation of Comiston springs, three miles to the south of the Castle, which fed a cistern on Castlehill, one of the first piped water supplies in Scotland.

From the Castle Esplanade, the short section of the road entitled Castlehill is dominated by the former Tolbooth Highland St John's Church (on the south side at the foot of this section), now the headquarters of the Edinburgh International Festival society - The Hub, and on the north side by the Camera Obscura & World of Illusions. The Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland and New College are further down on the same side, in a somewhat understated building as seen from this side. The Scottish Parliament met in the Assembly Hall between 1999 and 2004, with a public access from Mylne's Court (now obliterated)..