Drummond Place terminates the eastern end of Great King Street, the most prominent axis in Edinburgh's Northern New Town. The ensemble of the Northern New Town represents the largest urban development of Georgian Edinburgh. Designed according to plans of Robert Reid and William Sibbald (1801-2), the Northern New Town was largely constructed following the Napoleonic Wars. Drummond Place, filled by a private garden in its centre, demonstrates a remarkable unity of execution. Tenements define a U-shaped urban space, while the interiors of blocks are opened up by small lanes and occupied by mews houses. The Scotland Street Railway tunnel, built in the 1840s and now disused, runs directly beneath the site.

 Text and video by Richard Anderson