The Abbotsford

The original building was demolished in 1902. Jenner’s & Co, owners of the Jenners department store across the street, then commissioned the pub and brewery architect P.L. Henderson to design the new Abbotsford Bar. The design is an outstanding example of Edwardian pub design complete with a classic island bar carved from Spanish mahogany and an elegant Jacobean ceiling. The pub has long been a meeting place for actors, journalists, and writers. In the 1950’s and 60’s the bar became a favourite haunt of ‘Rose St Poets’ Hugh Macdiarmid, Sorley McLean and Sydney Goodsir Smith. In more recent times the pub has played host to the likes of comedians Sir Billy Connolly and Robbie Coltrane, political figures such as Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown and the authors Ian Rankin and Iain Banks. Today it serves Scottish pub food and stocks more than 80 malts.