Auto Amazon Links: No products found. Blocked by captcha.
An ancient street that offers an insight into how Edinburgh appeared centuries ago has been discovered behind a secret door in the depths of the National Library of Scotland. Libberton’s Wynd in the city’s historic center, was removed to create way for George IV Bridge in the 1830s, but remnants of the street still remain. Nestled between the bridge barricades and the library building, the passage is not open to the public, though BBC Scotland News has been able to view it. It was detected by library officials during the 1990s when they breached a small hatch on a bulkhead behind filing cabinets, and then crawled through it. The corridor is believed to have once been utilized for storage in the bridge, with arches forming chambers and rooms.
Mr. Bill Jackson, the former director of the library, outlined that he found ancient rotten furniture, ledgers, shoes, and a slate urinal that were all over 100 years old, waterlogged, and damaged. He even revealed that exploring there was somewhat spooky, saying, “My torch was barely illuminating any object, it was dark when I went through, and I was afraid and wanted to leave.” Since then, he has installed lights and another door at the Cowgate end of the corridor. The library’s complexes were constructed on upper levels over the remnants of buildings which were deleted in Libberton’s Wynd to create George IV Bridge.
Robbie Mitchell, a reference assistant at the library, commented that within the passageway one may observe the library’s lower level’s brickwork and the bridge’s stonework. “Though not a maintained street like Mary Stair’s Close, it still allows us a peek at Edinburgh of centuries before. Several maps and estimates of the Old Town exist in the library’s archives, which support us to develop an atmospheric image of the area on which both George IV Bridge and the library now stand, and what was there before The Void,” Mr. Mitchell added.
Mr. Mitchell said that enormous crowds, typically several thousand people, flocked to attend the hangings that took place at the city gallows where Libberton’s Wynd intersected the Lawnmarket. One of the most notorious personalities to have been executed there was murderer and body-snatcher William Burke in January 1829. Libberton’s Wynd was also famous for populated one of the city’s most popular pubs, which was named The Mermaid before becoming known as Johnnie Dowie’s Tavern
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. Blocked by captcha.