The Flodden Wall
This perhaps the most photographed part of the wall due to it's proximity to The Vennel, but the wall survives in other parts of the city, most notably in Greyfriars Kirkyard, there is also a large chunk of it remaining at Drummond Street next to The University of Edinburgh, Institute of Geography Building, it leads round the corner onto Pleasance to the buildings on the East of Cowgate. It originally enclosed the Blackfriar's Monastery.
Now Edinburgh was a walled city before The Battle of Flodden, where the wall gets its name. The first known city wall was erected circa 1450 and was called The King's Wall, it enclosed a small portion of the current city centre, running east from the Castle rock above the Grassmarket towards roughly where Blackfriars Street is today. The walls were primarily to the south and east, the Nor’ Loch – an artificial body of water to the north protected the city in that direction, it was drained to allow construction of North Bridge and later Princes Street Gardens. Remnants of the King’s Wall are thought to stand today in Tweeddale Court between the High Street and the Cowgate. There's an interesting wee building in Tweeddale Court that used to house sedan chairs, used by those that could afford them, to ferry folk around the tight closes of The Old Town.
Back to the Flodden Wall, it followed most of the area The Kings Wall did with additions, work started extending it in 1513 after the Battle of Flodden, it took some 47 years to complete and featured towers at strategic points along it.
This wee bit in my photies has gun loop, and a bricked up window, the latter and addition in 1876. As Edinburgh expanded, the King’s Wall became increasingly ineffective as many homes now lay outside of it. Areas such as the Cowgate, which at that time was a fashionable suburb of the town, were dangerously exposed and a new wall was required to replace the ageing and inadequate original structure.
Many historians dispute that The Flodden Wall was a defensive structure, claiming that the wall was never up to the task of defending the town against an invading army and was most likely constructed in order to better control trade and act as a deterrent to smugglers.
In the late 1700s, work commenced on removal of vast sections of Edinburgh’s ancient town walls which were now considered redundant. Very little survives now as a result - though most of the wall’s boundary can be easily traced. Archaeologists discovered remains of the Flodden Wall during a revamp of the Grassmarket in 2008. At the King’s Stables Road end of the Grassmarket, the line of the wall is now marked out in the paving stones.
The Netherbow Port, the main gate into Edinburgh was demolished in 1764 in order to improve traffic flow. If there is one structure I would like to see it is this one, if you get the chance go into Huntly House, The Museum of Edinburgh and check out the model of Edinburgh back then, alternatively Google Netherbow Port to check out depictions of it.
