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George Heriot's School

A Renaissance palace of a school on Lauriston Place, begun in 1628 with the fortune of James VI's goldsmith and finished in 1693.

Welcome

Look south from Greyfriars Kirkyard and a palace fills the view: turrets, ogee-capped towers, a great clock tower and rows of carved windows around a courtyard.

It is a school. George Heriot, goldsmith and financier to James VI, died in 1624 and left his fortune to found a hospital, a charitable school, for the children of the city.

Work began in 1628 under the King's master mason, William Wallace, who drew on continental pattern books and the royal palaces of Denmark, and it went on for most of the century under the Mylnes and others. Before it could take its first pupils, Cromwell's army used it as a military hospital; the school finally opened in 1659, and the dome and lantern were finished in 1693.

Heriot's is a busy school to this day and is not open to visitors, but its north front can be admired from the kirkyard.

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Close byJolly JudgeA small pub at the foot of James Court off the Lawnmarket, with low beamed ceilings, a warm fire, real ales and a long list of malts.2 min by roadSee itJolly Judge
Before you go

Heriot's is a working school and is not open to visitors.

The building is best seen from Greyfriars Kirkyard, which looks across at its north front, and from Lauriston Place, through the gates.

Where
Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, behind Greyfriars Kirkyard.
To see
The north front and its clock tower from Greyfriars Kirkyard; the gates from Lauriston Place.

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Where it is

On Lauriston Place, south of the Grassmarket, looking across Greyfriars Kirkyard to the castle.

Close byGreyfriars and the Grassmarket.
  1. The marble shopfront of Thomas J Walls on Forrest Road, its old opticians' lettering above wide windows and a bronze door.Thomas J WallsA coffee shop for brunch and light lunches in an old opticians on Forrest Road, which kept the name over its marble shopfront.Under a mile as the crow flies
  2. Greyfriars BobbyGreyfriars BobbyThe bronze of the Skye terrier said to have kept watch over his master's grave.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. Greyfriars KirkGreyfriars KirkThe first church built in Edinburgh after the Reformation, opened on Christmas Day 1620.Under a mile 1 min by road
  4. Flodden WallFlodden WallThe last standing tower of the town wall built after Flodden, above the Grassmarket.Under a mile 1 min by road
  5. Vennel StepsVennel StepsA steep stepped lane with one of the best-known views of the castle.Under a mile 1 min by road
  6. Dolly the SheepDolly the SheepThe first mammal cloned from an adult cell, in the National Museum of Scotland.Under a mile 1 min by road
Directions
The painted 'No Half Measures' sign on the pale green wall inside Half-Cut Coffee, above a rack of prints and cards.CafeHalf-Cut Coffee0.2 miles
The red front of W. Armstrong & Son at 83 Grassmarket, established 1840, with a vintage bicycle and dressed mannequins outside.ShoppingW. Armstrong & Son0.2 miles
Round hanging sign reading "soup cafe" outside a shopfront in black and whiteCafeUnion of Genius0.2 miles
A guide in a dark cape leads a group of walkers along an Edinburgh Old Town street on a Potter Trail tour.ShoppingThe Potter Trail0.2 miles
The cream-painted shopfront of Transreal Fiction on Candlemaker Row, with its name above the door and two windows, beneath a stone tenement.AttractionsTransreal Fiction0.2 miles
Green banquette seating and wooden tables inside a bar with large sash windowsRestaurantsCheckpoint0.2 miles
The blue front of The Bow Bar at 80 West Bow, its name in gold script between Spirit and Merchant, with the lit bar inside.BarsThe Bow Bar0.2 miles
Whirlybird's dining room on Victoria Street, with wooden tables and chairs, a stone wall, fringed lamps and a tall window onto the street.RestaurantsWhirlybird0.2 miles
Five of the Lewis chess pieces against a dark background, including two bishops and a crowned figure, carved in pale ivory.AttractionsThe Lewis Chess Pieces0.3 miles

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near Heriot's, and when each is next free.

A 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 Heriot's
Check datesA 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 Heriot's
Check datesWest End Muse
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Edinburgh
  • Under a mile from Heriot's
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 Heriot's
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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