- The Canongate
The Canongate is a small district and former
burgh at the heart ofEdinburgh ,Scotland 's capital city. It is usually referred to as "The Canongate" instead of simply "Canongate". It is also the name of the main street through the area. The Canongate forms the lower part of theRoyal Mile inEdinburgh 's historic Old Town. Until formal incorporation into Edinburgh in 1856 the Canongate was a separateburgh . The easterly end of the Canongate is commonly regarded as being in the Holyrood area of the city, in addition to sometimes being considered an area in its own right.The Canongate is named after the canons of
Holyrood Abbey , "gait" meaning walk in northernMiddle English . The originalParliament House was home to theParliament of Scotland , and is now used by theHigh Court of Justiciary and theCourt of Session . It is located in the Old Town, just off theRoyal Mile , besideSt Giles Cathedral .As well as the new
Scottish Parliament building, which incorporates the historicQueensberry House , the Canongate contains some other notable public buildings, including theMuseum of Edinburgh and thePeople's Story Museum (located in the historicCanongate Tolbooth .) In 1691 the newCanongate Kirk was opened, replacingHolyrood Abbey as the parish church of the Canongate. The church is still used for Sunday services as well as weekday concerts.The Canongate started to decline after the accession of
King James VI ofScotland to the throne ofEngland in 1603. The loss of the royal court from thePalace of Holyroodhouse inevitably had an impact of the surrounding area. This was exacerbated following the construction of Edinburgh's New Town. However the Canongate was an important district during theScottish Enlightenment with founding of theCanongate Theatre byLord Monboddo ,David Hume and other intellectuals of that era. [Cloyd, E.L., "James Burnett, Lord Monboddo" (1972)]Walter Scott named "Chronicles of the Canongate " (1820s) after the area.Modern era
By the 1970s the once overcrowded and
poverty -stricken area was starting to suffer from serious depopulation. From the 1980s onwards the Canongate area become notably less industrial, with many of the breweries closing. In the 1990s and 2000s, flats and offices have been built on the former industrial land, reversing the decline in population. While much of this development has a modern appearance, it has been laid out in the "fishbone" pattern characteristic of the Royal Mile. As of 2006, the redevelopment of the few remaining pieces of industrial land to the north of the Canongate has aroused controversy partly due to the proposal to demolish some of the 1930s replacement buildings.Above all, the construction of the new
Scottish Parliament building on the site of the old Abbey Brewery has led to a resurgence of the area's vitality. For the first time since 1603 the Canongate has again become the centre of Scottish political life.References
External links
* [http://www.eh8.org.uk Canongate Community Forum, a group concerned about proposed demolition and development on the north side of the Canongate]
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