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The Canongate Tolbooth under blue sky, its tower and clock over the street.
Edinburgh

The People’s Story

The city's free museum of Edinburgh's working people, from the 18th century to now, in the Canongate Tolbooth of 1591.

Welcome

Halfway down the Canongate, under a turreted tower and a clock that juts out over the street, stands the Canongate Tolbooth, built in 1591 as the council house, court and jail of what was then a separate burgh.

Today it holds the People's Story, the city's museum of its working people.

Where most museums tell the lives of kings and great men, this one tells everyone else's, from the late 18th century to the present day. It uses people's own words, written and spoken, with reconstructed rooms and life-size figures, from a tearoom to a prison cell. Trade union banners and the flags of the reform movements hang on the walls, and every room is about work, home, pleasure and getting by.

The museum is free, and it sits among some of the oldest buildings on the Royal Mile, a short walk from the Parliament and the palace.

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The Daily for 30 October, from Scotland with love. Aerial view of a teal-coloured lochan cupped in a forested hollow, a scree slope rising on one side and autumn-tinged pines ringing the shore.
Close byRoom & RumoursA coffee shop and doughnut bakery in one of the railway arches of East Market Street, by Waverley, with fresh doughnuts every day.1 min by roadSee itRoom & Rumours
Before you go

The museum is free, in the Tolbooth halfway down the Canongate.

Its opening days are set by the council's museums service, so check before a special trip.

Where
The Canongate Tolbooth, 163 Canongate, the Royal Mile.

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Where it is

In the Canongate Tolbooth, on the lower Royal Mile.

Close byThe Canongate.
  1. Canongate Tolbooth's turret and projecting clock rise above Edinburgh's Royal MileThe Tolbooth TavernA tavern in part of the Canongate Tolbooth of 1591, where tolls were once collected, now serving Scottish food and whisky on the Royal Mile.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. Morocco LandMorocco LandA turbaned stone figure on the front of a Canongate tenement.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. White Horse CloseWhite Horse CloseA white-harled courtyard of crow-stepped houses at the foot of the Canongate.Under a mile 1 min by road
  4. Scottish Parliament BuildingScottish Parliament BuildingEnric Miralles' Parliament, which won the Stirling Prize in 2005.Under a mile 1 min by road
  5. Ivy trimmed into a heart shape on a townhouse wall beside blossomChessel’s CourtA quiet court of 'mansion flats' of the 1740s off the Canongate.Under a mile 1 min by road
  6. Scottish Poetry LibraryScottish Poetry LibraryA free library of poetry off the Canongate.Under a mile 3 min by road
Directions
Roofless nave of Holyrood Abbey, gothic tracery window framing bare stone ruinsAttractionsHolyrood AbbeyA step away
Sandstone mansion with tall chimneys and turret, fronted by a lawnAttractionsLauriston CastleA step away
Green shopfront sign reading Cadenhead's, Scotland's Oldest Independent Bottler, established 1842ShoppingCadenhead'sA step away
Pink and pale blue hydrangea blooms among dense green leavesAttractionsDunbar's Close GardensA step away
Cobbled courtyard with trimmed box hedges beneath overhanging trees near stone buildingsAttractionsDunbar's Close GardenA step away
The front of the Black Grape on the Canongate, its sign over arched windows in a white building.RestaurantsThe Black GrapeA step away
Illuminated LOUDONS sign above dark glass entrance doors, reflecting nearby buildingsCafeLoudons New Waverley0.2 miles
Antique plates and framed portraits line the walls of a lace-tabled tea roomCafeClarinda's Tearoom0.2 miles
Restaurant dining room with pendant lights, stone walls and set tablesRestaurantsWedgwood0.2 miles

Recommend to a friend

Stay nearby

Places to stay near the museum, 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 People's Story
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 People's Story
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 People's Story
Check datesWest End Muse
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Edinburgh
  • A mile from the People's Story
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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We want to show you the best that Scotland has to offer. The makers and the creatives, the enduring experiences, the evocative tales, the concealed corners. The roads less travelled that take you to places that matter. The adventures that gather you up and sweep you away. The blend of the wild and the artistic that makes Scotland what it is. We’d love for you to join us.

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What we have written about it, the collections it is in and more in Edinburgh.

From the magazineA Guide to Edinburgh’s Historic Sites and MuseumsArticleEdinburgh’s Lesser-Known MuseumsCollectionThings to Do in Edinburgh on a ShoestringCollectionThings to Do in Edinburgh When It Rains
More in Edinburgh
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For further reading, before you go. The details on this page were checked on .