Fresh flavour for historic Royal Mile building

Gladstone’s Land, the National Trust for Scotland’s Royal Mile townhouse is undergoing a £1.4 million transformation over the next few months.

The National Trust for Scotland is updating the visitor experience at the 500-year-old building, creating a new ‘ice cream and coffee parlour’ on the ground floor which weaves 17th century details in to the design.

The self-catering apartments will also be upgraded – with nods to the unique property’s historical past – and the events programme will also get a complete overhaul.

The project, which keeps the historical nature of the building at the forefront of the refurbishments, commenced earlier this month. It is the latest in a series of investments by the conservation charity that protects Scotland’s national and natural treasures at properties across the country. The charity is already hard at work on a project to transform the visitor experience at the House of Dun in Angus.

Gladstone’s Land, located just a few hundred feet from Edinburgh Castle was once one of the most prestigious addresses in the city. A visit provides a glimpse of life for its 16th and 17th century tenants, including clergymen, merchants and investors. The original painted ceilings are amongst the city’s best-remaining examples of this traditional decorating technique.

Seventeenth-century Gladstone’s Land on the Royal Mile in Edinbu (Photo: Allan Forbes/National Trust for Scotland)

General manager for Edinburgh and East Stuart Maxwell said: ‘We’ve drawn on Gladstone’s Land’s long history as a trading post and commercial site as inspiration for our plans here on the Royal Mile.

‘Built for a merchant, it was involved in the importing of tea, coffee, chocolate and spices which will all flavour the new experience and the stories we will tell here. These changes will make a trip to Gladstone’s Land even richer and give people more reasons to come back and sample it again and again.’

Gladstone’s Land is expected to reopen to the public in summer 2020.

For more information and project updates, visit www.nts.org.uk and follow www.facebook.com/gladstonesland.

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