Edinburgh town walls
There have been several town walls around Edinburgh, Scotland, since the 12th century. Some form of wall probably existed from the foundation of the royal burgh in around 1125, though the first building is recorded in the mid-15th century, when the King's Wall was constructed. In the 16th century the more extensive Flodden Wall was erected, following the Scots' defeat at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. This was extended by the Telfer Wall in the early 17th century. The walls had a number of gates, known as ports, the most important being the Netherbow Port, which stood halfway down what is now the Royal Mile. This gave access from the Canongate which was, at that time, a separate burgh.
The walls never proved very successful as defensive structures, and were easily breached on more than one occasion. They served more as a means of controlling trade and taxing goods, and as a deterrent to smugglers. By the mid 18th century, the walls had outlived both their defensive and trade purposes, and demolition of sections of the wall began. The Netherbow Port was pulled down in 1764, and demolition continued into the 19th century. Today, a number of sections of the three successive walls survive, although none of the ports remain.
Background
Edinburgh was formally established as a royal burgh by King David I of Scotland around 1125. This gave the town the privilege of holding a market, and the power to raise money by taxing goods coming into the burgh for sale. It is probable, therefore, that some form of boundary was constructed around this time, although it may have been a timber palisade or ditch, rather than a stone wall.To the north of Edinburgh lay the Nor Loch, formed in the early 15th century in the depression where Princes Street Gardens are now laid out. This defence was not natural, but was formed by creating a dam and sluice at the foot of Halkerston's Wynd to the east. It was further augmented by the steep slope up to the northern edge of the Old Town. Edinburgh Castle, on its rocky outcrop, defended the western approach. Walls were therefore needed primarily on the south and east sides of the burgh.
Early records mention a west gate in 1180, a south gate in 1214, and the Netherbow Port in 1369. In 1362 the Wellhouse Tower was built beneath the north wall of the castle, protecting the castle's water supply, and defending the approach along the south shore of the Nor Loch.
King's Wall
The King's Wall is first recorded in 1427, in a title deed which refers to the wall as the property boundary. In 1450, King James II issued a charter permitting the burgesses of Edinburgh to defend their town, as follows:In a further royal charter of 28 April 1472, King James III ordered the demolition of houses built on or outside the King's Wall, which were hampering efforts to strengthen the defences. Edinburgh was thus one of only three Scottish towns to have medieval stone walls, the others being Stirling and Perth, though other towns had earth walls or palisades.
The early wall had two ports: the Upper Bow or Over-Bow, in the vicinity of what is now Victoria Street, and the Nether Bow, on the present Royal Mile near Fountain Close, which was located near around further west than the later structure. In addition, posterns were provided, for example at Gray's Close. The alignment of the wall was irregular, as existing property boundaries or walls were reinforced to form a defence.
Archaeological evidence
The wall was thought to have run along the south side of what is now the Royal Mile, above the Cowgate, from the slope of the Castle Hill in the west, almost as far as the modern St Mary's Street in the east, where it turned to cross the High Street. However, excavations in the 2002-2004 by Headland Archaeology in the Cowgate, in advance of a housing development, found what is thought to be remains of the King's Wall. This discovery pushes the southern boundary of the wall significantly further south, down on to the Cowgate. This discovery, plus the discovery of a massive fortification ditch at the excavations of St Patrick’s Church has led the archaeologists to believe that large portions of the medieval town defences were situated along the north side of the Cowgate and not halfway up the slope.Flodden Wall
In 1513, King James IV led an invasion of England in support of the French and the Auld Alliance. On 9 September, the Scots met the English at the Battle of Flodden, and were heavily defeated, with King James killed on the field. An English invasion was widely expected, and in Edinburgh it was resolved to build a new town wall. However, the new wall was also an opportunity to control smuggling into the burgh, and the town council accordingly decided to extend the wall south to take in the Grassmarket and Cowgate areas of the burgh. Construction began the following year, but was not completed until 1560. Work started at the western end, and the final section was the stretch from Leith Wynd to the Nor Loch, incorporating the New Port. The cost of this last work was £4/10s Scots per rood for the wall, plus 40s per rood for the battlements.The Flodden Wall, as it became known, was generally around thick and up to high. The Flodden Wall began at the south side of the castle, running south across the west end of the Grassmarket, where the West Port was located, and continued uphill along the Vennel. A watch-tower or bastion survives at this, the south-west extent of the wall. It then ran east, wrapping around Greyfriars Kirkyard, to the Bristo Port and the Potterow Port, both located in the vicinity of the National Museum of Scotland. Continuing east, the wall passed the Kirk o' Field, where the Old College now stands, and ran along Drummond Street, turning north at the Pleasance to enclose the former Blackfriars Monastery. The Cowgate Port was located at the foot of the Pleasance. From here, along St Mary's Wynd and Leith Wynd, the town's defences were provided by fortifying the existing houses along the west side of the wynds. At the junction of these wynds, at the Netherbow, the narrowed section of the High Street, stood the Netherbow Port, between the High Street and the Canongate leading to Holyrood Abbey and Holyrood Palace. At Leith Wynd Port the wall continued west to the Nor Loch, since replaced at this location by Waverley railway station, terminating at the New Port. The Flodden Wall enclosed an area of just under, and remained the limit of the burgh until the 18th century. Contained within this area, in 1560, was a population of around 10,000.
There were six ports in the Flodden Wall. Anti-clockwise from the castle they were:
- West Port, built 1514 at the west end of the Grassmarket, where the modern street of West Port is today, and giving access to Wester Portsburgh;
- Bristo Port, built around 1515 on Bristo Street, close to Greyfriars Kirk and the Society of Brewers;
- Potterrow Port, at the head of Horse Wynd near the Kirk o' Field, giving access to Easter Portsburgh;
- Cowgate Port, on the Cowgate near the Blackfriars Monastery, the access to the Grassmarket from the east;
- Netherbow Port, access from the High Street to the Canongate;
- New Port, at the foot of Halkerston's Wynd beneath the modern North Bridge, giving access north to Multrees Hill.
Military action
Although the expected English invasion never materialised after Flodden, the 16th century was a turbulent period in Scotland. In 1544 the Earl of Hertford led an English force into Scotland during the War of the Rough Wooing. On 6 May, having captured Leith, Hertford's men, under the command of Sir Christopher Morris, blew open the Netherbow Port with their artillery. The town was burned over the following three days, "so that neither within the walls nor in the suburbs was left any one house unburnt".Further disturbances took place during the troubled reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, and its aftermath. In 1558 the Protestant Lords of the Congregation marched on Edinburgh against the Catholic French Regent, Mary of Guise, and were able to take control of the town without difficulty, despite the guards posted at the city gate. Following the forced abdication of Queen Mary, Scotland's nobility was divided between her supporters, and those of the infant King James VI, represented by a series of regents. During the Marian civil war, Edinburgh Castle was held for the Queen by William Kirkcaldy of Grange, and in May 1571 the town was besieged by the Regent's forces under James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton. Repairs were made to the walls, and the Netherbow was barricaded. Nearby houses were pulled down to improve defences, and the siege gun Mons Meg was employed to batter houses outside the wall which were being used by snipers. Unable to make any headway, the besiegers withdrew on 20 May.
Again the defences were strengthened in September, in advance of a second siege which began on 16 October. By this stage only ten per cent of Edinburgh's inhabitants remained in the city. The besiegers under Regent Mar had only seven guns, and while they did manage to breach the Flodden Wall, the inner defences were too strong for an assault. By 21 October the siege was once again lifted. A blockade of the town was continued until July 1572 when a truce was agreed. Grange retreated into the castle and handed over the town to the Regent's party. The siege of Edinburgh Castle continued until May 1573, when it was finally reduced by a battery of guns shipped from England.