Edinburgh's Hidden Courtyard

Tue, 14 Jul 2020 01:08:30 -0700

In the heart of Edinburgh's Canongate lies a hidden courtyard with much to say. It’s now July and Scotland is slowly coming out of the Covid-19 Lock-down. It’ll be good to get back to my guided tours but there’s a particular place I’m itching to visit – the hidden courtyard at the Museum of Edinburgh.

Usually accessed through the Museum in the summer months you may sometimes find the side-gate in Bakehouse Close open where the bright oranges and greens of an intricate sundial catch the eye through the dark, arched pend.

The Museum of Edinburgh's hidden courtyard contains almost 100 architectural fragments from all over the city and the surrounding area. Most date from between the late 15^th century to the late 18^th century. Although it is rather a random collection of carved stones, and in many cases little is known about the individual fragments themselves, they can still tell us much about society in Edinburgh’s past. We can see aspects of daily-life (the courtyard holds many quern-stones used to ground flour) and gain an insight into the everyday concerns and considerations of the city's citizens; that's why I like to think of them as 'stones that speak'...

~ Stones that Speak ~
The Museum of Edinburgh's Courtyard Collection

Punishment and Death

One of the most obvious things you notice is that death, pain and punishment were part of everyday life. The grimacing face (below) is practically screaming it at us. He's probably being hung, a common form of punishment in times gone by, for anything from stealing to murder. Meanwhile, the figure from Trinity College Kirk (below) founded in 1460, seems to be undergoing a form of punishment. The wrists have been bound together and attached to a...Read More

Hetty's History Walks

Edinburgh's Hidden Courtyard

~ Stones that Speak ~ The Museum of Edinburgh's Courtyard Collection

Punishment and Death

~ Stones that Speak ~
The Museum of Edinburgh's Courtyard Collection