South Bridge, Edinburgh

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South Bridge, Edinburgh

South Bridge is a road bridge and street in Edinburgh’s Old Town. It links the High Street and North Bridge to Nicolson Street, crossing the Cowgate valley. The bridge is built along the city’s crag-and-tail landscape, dipping down from the High Street to the Cowgate (which runs under the largest arch) and then climbing back up to Nicolson Street. Most of the deck is surrounded by buildings, with only the big arch visible from the street.

History
- In 1784, James Hunter Blair, then Lord Provost of Edinburgh, proposed a southern bridge as an extension of North Bridge to improve access to the south.
- Building the bridge required demolishing some buildings, including Edinburgh’s old Poultry Market.
- The bridge was designed by Robert Kay and built by Alexander Laing. The South Bridge Act was passed in 1785, and funds were later raised to complete the plan with input from Robert Adam.
- The foundation stone was laid on August 1, 1785 by George Gordon, Lord Haddo, who was Grand Master Mason of Scotland.
- The incomplete bridge opened to foot traffic on November 19, 1786, with wooden planks laid across the arches. It was fully completed in 1788 and has nineteen arches.

Features
- The deck is largely enclosed by buildings on both sides; the only part visible from the street is the largest arch.
- Below deck level lie many vaults, now a tourist attraction known as the Edinburgh Vaults.
- Deck-level buildings have entrances at or beside the Cowgate and parallel streets such as Niddry Street and Blair Street.

Notable sites
- Adam Square was the only older element in the area, built around 1770 and later rebuilt around 1870 to make Chambers Street.
- In 2002, the Cowgate Fire destroyed part of the southwest quadrant; that area was rebuilt as a hotel and supermarket.
- Goldsmiths Hall is an interior space of great historical significance, linked to old trade guilds, now accessed via Blair Street.

Name
- The street was originally called South Bridge Street on John Ainslie’s 1804 map; by the 1850s it had been shortened to South Bridge.

See also: North Bridge, George IV Bridge, Cowgate, Edinburgh Vaults.