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Edinburgh

The Blair Street Vaults

The deepest set of vaults under the South Bridge, built into its arches in the 1780s, sealed with rubble and forgotten until the 1980s.

Welcome

Above, the South Bridge is just another busy Old Town street of shops and traffic.

Visited and photographed by Simon Hird

Below it, a door off Blair Street opens on another city altogether: stone passages lit by lanterns, low vaulted chambers of rough rock and brick, and a cold that settles in within a few steps.

The tour leads from room to room by candle and lamplight. Painted signs name some of the rooms after the trades once carried on in them; iron-barred gates close off dark side chambers, and in places the ceiling curves so low you have to stoop. The guides tell the history by day and the ghost stories after dark, and either way it makes a memorable hour. Wear sensible shoes and a warm layer, and if small, dark spaces are not for you, think twice.

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Before you go

The Blair Street vaults are seen only on a guided tour with Mercat Tours, by day on a history walk or after dark on a ghost tour.

Tours start at the Mercat Cross on the Royal Mile and sell out, so book ahead.

Tours meet
At the Mercat Cross, by St Giles' on the Royal Mile.
Underfoot
Dark, uneven and damp when it rains.

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Did you know

A stone archway opening into a dimly lit underground passage
Did you know

Rooms inside a bridge.

The South Bridge was built from 1785 on 19 stone arches. Tenements went up along both sides of all but one of them, and floors were built into the hollow arches below, making rooms beneath the street.

Brick-vaulted alcoves underground, a single candle lit on a ledge
Did you know

First across, in a coffin.

The story goes that the oldest resident along the bridge, a judge's wife, was to be the first to cross it, but died days before the opening in 1788, and was carried over in her coffin. Many locals then refused to use it.

A "Tavern Room" sign mounted on a rough stone wall underground
Did you know

Oysters and claret.

At first the vaults were workshops and stores. One held a tavern that served oysters and claret, another a cobbler, and a shoe found down here is kept on show.

A vaulted stone passage opening into a darker chamber underground, a lantern lighting the wall
Did you know

A bridge never sealed.

Built on a tight budget, the bridge was never made waterproof. Water seeped through into the vaults, and within about 30 years of its opening the businesses had all but gone.

A single candle lit against a rough rock wall underground
Did you know

Shelter for the poorest.

When the trades left, the city's poorest moved in, with oil lamps, a bucket and the smell of sewage and fish oil. Illegal whisky stills followed.

A vaulted stone chamber underground, numbered panels set into the brickwork
Did you know

Found again in the 1980s.

Filled with rubble and sealed in the 19th century, the vaults lay forgotten for more than a hundred years until the 1980s, when the rubble was dug out again.

A barred iron gate set into a rough stone chamber underground, a lantern lighting the wall beside it
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Where it is

Under the South Bridge, reached from Blair Street off the Cowgate; tours meet at the Mercat Cross.

Close byThe places nearest the vaults, around the South Bridge.
  1. Whisky barrels line the bar counter beneath shelves of bottles and a mezzanine levelStramashA music bar in a converted church.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. Arched glass roof spans an open studio filled with art and weaving loomsDovecot StudiosA weaving studio founded in 1912.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. Pedestrians walk along the Grassmarket, with Biddy's pub sign visible on the rightMercat CrossThe old market cross by St Giles', where the tours begin.Under a mile 2 min by road
  4. The Banshee LabyrinthThe Banshee LabyrinthA pub and club partly set in the old vaults.Under a mile 2 min by road
  5. Magdalen ChapelMagdalen ChapelA chapel of the 1540s on the Cowgate.Under a mile 2 min by road
  6. Greyfriars KirkGreyfriars KirkThe first church built in Edinburgh after the Reformation.Under a mile 3 min by road
Directions
A stone-walled passage in the Blair Street Underground Vaults, lit by wall lamps and running away into the dark.AttractionsBlair Street Underground CavernsA step away
Two bowls of ramen at Ikigai on South Bridge: a creamy tonkotsu with pork belly and a soft egg, and a dark mushroom broth, by glasses of water with lemon.RestaurantsIkigaiA step away
The green shopfront of Mother India Cafe on Infirmary Street in Edinburgh, its name in gold letters above the door.RestaurantsMother India's Cafe EdinburghA step away
A flight of whiskies and their bottles on a table in a stone vault at the Lost Close, a chandelier behind.AttractionsThe Lost CloseA step away
Woman in red robe sprinkling green powder into a glass jarShoppingThe Department of MagicA step away
The stone arch at the foot of Fleshmarket Close, its name above and steps climbing away, people walking up.AttractionsFleshmarket CloseA step away
Framed pictures line an exposed brick wall beside a yellow-topped bar with beer tapsRestaurantsArcade BarA step away
Edinburgh Castle seen from a rooftop terrace with a stone drainage holeAttractionsAndy Goldsworthy's 'Hutton Roof'0.2 miles
Timber slabs laid along the wooden floor of a grand columned galleryAttractionsTalbot Rice Gallery0.2 miles

Recommend to a friend

Stay nearby

Places to stay near the vaults, and when each is next free.

A hotel studio room with a beige fitted kitchen unit and stainless sink beside a bed dressed in white and teal cushions, a wall of black-framed pictures above a patterned headboard.Old Town Chambers
  • To stay
  • In Edinburgh
  • Under a mile from the vaults
Check datesA round table and chairs stand before tall curtained windows looking onto stone buildings, a sofa and mounted television to the right.Moment George IV Bridge
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Edinburgh
  • Under a mile from the vaults
Check datesWest End Muse
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Edinburgh
  • Under a mile from the vaults
Check datesA turreted sandstone building with conical spires catches the evening light above rooftops, a large pine tree standing beside it.The Scott Hotel
  • A hotel
  • In Edinburgh
  • A mile from the vaults
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in EdinburghAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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