Place · United Kingdom
The history of Edinburgh
Assembled from 3 dug tiles · 44 sourced records · 600–2025 · last reviewed 16 October 2026
Edinburgh's Old Town holds a buried close, a Reformation kirkyard and a market square beneath the castle, each layered with centuries of use. From Mary King's sealed-off street to the gallows and markets of the Grassmarket and the graves of Greyfriars, the ground records plague, covenant, trade and violence in close succession.
These are the individual spots Strata has dug in Edinburgh — not a guide to the town, but a record of what happened on particular ground.
Digs in Edinburgh
An underground street, now a tourist attractionThis point marks a sealed-off close buried beneath Edinburgh's City Chambers on the Royal Mile. Mary King's Close
1034–2003 A 17th-century graveyard around a Reformation church
Greyfriars Kirkyard is a burial ground beside Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh's Old Town, still open to visitors today. Greyfriars Kirkyard
600–1919 A 600-year-old market square
This point sits in Edinburgh's Grassmarket, a historic square below the castle, now lined with pubs and shops. Grassmarket
600–2025
Edinburgh in layers
2 August, 19th century
John Boyd, a notorious local figure on Candlemaker Row, was fatally stabbed by a militia doctor named Symons during a night-time altercation. Random Scottish History
AD 600 to AD 973
Radiocarbon samples taken within a few hundred meters of this spot date to between AD 600 and AD 973, among the oldest dated human traces found around this ground. Cross-referenced p3k14c, Open Context
Grassmarket, Edinburgh
A radiocarbon sample taken almost on this spot has been dated to between AD 600 and AD 664, the oldest dated evidence of people here. Open Context: Cross-referenced p3k14c
AD 1034-1213
A radiocarbon sample taken about 390 meters away returned a date range of AD 1034 to 1213, among the oldest dated material found close to this ground. Open Context / Cross-referenced p3k14c
near the Grassmarket
Edinburgh's town walls, part of them still standing nearby, were built from the 12th century onward and were extended south in the 16th century to take in the Grassmarket. UK Heritage: Edinburgh Town Wall
Grassmarket, Edinburgh
The Grassmarket appears in the Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum in 1363 as Newbygging, the street beneath the castle rock. Wikipedia: Grassmarket
from 1400
St Giles' Cathedral, now a category A listed building, dates back to the 1400s and anchors the High Street a short walk from here. Wikidata: St Giles' Cathedral
Grassmarket, Edinburgh
From 1477 the Grassmarket was licensed as a horse and cattle market, trading livestock here for over 400 years until it closed in 1911. Wikipedia: Grassmarket
1520
In 1520 rival clans fought a pitched street battle on the High Street known as Cleanse the Causeway. Wikidata: Cleanse the Causeway
17 May 1544
An English amphibious raid during the Rough Wooing burned much of Edinburgh in May 1544. Wikidata: Burning of Edinburgh
August 1562
Mary, Queen of Scots granted royal sanction in August 1562 to open Greyfriars Kirkyard after St Giles' churchyard became overcrowded and unsanitary. Wikipedia - Greyfriars Kirkyard
1567
After losing the Battle of Carberry Hill in 1567, Mary, Queen of Scots spent her last night in Edinburgh hidden in this close under guard. The Little House of Horrors
died 1572
John Knox, the Scottish reformer, is buried at St Giles' Cathedral, a short walk from this spot, along with mathematician John Napier and the Earl of Moray. Wikidata burials: St Giles' Cathedral
17th-19th centuries
Colin MacLaurin, Joseph Black, Allan Ramsay, William McGonagall, and James Hutton are among the many scientists, poets, and historians buried within yards of this spot in Greyfriars Kirkyard. Wikidata burial records
Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh
Greyfriars Kirkyard, a short walk east, holds the graves of philosopher David Hume's contemporaries in science and letters, including chemist Joseph Black, mathematician Colin MacLaurin and poet Allan Ramsay. Wikidata burial records
August 1621
In August 1621 Edinburgh's town council forced candlemakers off the High Street because of the fire risk and stench of their trade, resettling them on what became Candlemaker Row. W. Forbes Gray, The Candlemakers of Edinburgh, 1517-1884
1635-1644
The close was renamed after Mary King, a cloth merchant and Burgess of Edinburgh who bought property here in 1635 and died in 1644, just before the plague swept through. The Real Mary King's Close
28 February 1638
On 28 February 1638 the National Covenant was signed at Greyfriars Kirk, launching the Covenanting movement against King Charles I. Context Travel
1645
Edinburgh's 1645 plague outbreak killed between a fifth and a half of the city's people, and Mary King's Close, just beneath this spot, was hit hardest of all. On The Luce
Grassmarket, Edinburgh
Between 1661 and 1688, more than 100 Covenanters were hanged in the Grassmarket during the period known as the Killing Time. Wikipedia: Grassmarket
1679
After their defeat at Bothwell Bridge in 1679, roughly 1,200 Covenanters were imprisoned for months with little food or shelter in what became known as the Covenanters' Prison, beside the kirkyard. Edinburgh Expert Walking Tours
24 May 1691
Sir George Mackenzie, the Lord Advocate who prosecuted the Covenanters, was buried in 1691 in the domed mausoleum that still stands near the prison he helped fill. Grokipedia
1718
An explosion in 1718 destroyed the west end of Greyfriars Kirk, forcing it to be rebuilt. City Days
1722
A fire in a candlemakers' workshop killed the Deacon of the Bonnet Makers Guild in 1722, hastening the trade's move away from the crowded old streets. Edinburgh Old Town blog
Questions about Edinburgh
What is Edinburgh known for historically?
Edinburgh's Old Town is known for Mary King's Close, a 17th-century street buried beneath the City Chambers; Greyfriars Kirkyard, a burial ground established in 1562 where the National Covenant was signed in 1638; and the Grassmarket, a market square first named in 1363 and used since 1477.
What happened at Mary King's Close?
Mary King's Close took its name from a 17th-century cloth merchant and Burgess of Edinburgh who lived there until her death in 1644. The Great Plague devastated the close in 1645, the Royal Exchange buried it over in 1753, its last resident left around 1902, and it reopened to the public in 2003.
What happened at Greyfriars Kirkyard?
Greyfriars Kirkyard was founded in 1562 on the site of a dissolved Franciscan friary. The National Covenant was signed there in 1638, 1,200 Covenanters were later held nearby in 1679, and the graveyard also holds grave-robbery victims protected by mortsafes, a hanged captain, and the dog Bobby, who slept on a grave from 1858 to 1872.
What happened in the Grassmarket?
The Grassmarket was first named in 1363 and served as one of Edinburgh's main markets from 1477. It was the site of gallows deaths over more than a century, the Porteous Riots lynching, and a Zeppelin bomb dropped outside the White Hart Inn on 2 April 1916, which killed one person and injured four others.
Did Mary, Queen of Scots have any connection to this area?
She sheltered at Mary King's Close in 1567 after the defeat at Carberry Hill.
Are Burke and Hare connected to these places?
Burke and Hare's murders began a short walk from the Grassmarket at West Port, and they sold their victims' bodies near the High Street between 1827 and 1828.