West Port, Edinburgh

The history of the street

Historic names for the street and area

Wester Portsburgh, as the area around the West Port was formerly known, was the main street through the western part of the burgh of Portsburgh - a burgh of barony from 1649 to 1856.

The name West Port originally referred only to the gate itself, but was used for the entire length of the street leading away from the gate in maps from around 1837 onwards. Wester Portsburgh still appeared as the name of the street on maps as late as 1831.

Portsburgh can also be seen as the name for the same street in a map from 1836. However, this does not serve to distinguish it from the eastern part of Portsburgh (Easter Portsburgh), which was still part of the same burgh at that date, the two parts of Portsburgh having their own administrative systems and baillies.

Historic events and famous residents

• Margaret Tudor was given the keys of Edinburgh at the West Port in 1503.
• King Charles I entered Edinburgh by the West Port in the year of his Scottish Coronation, 1633.
• "In 1650, when an English invasion was expected, many houses in Potterrow, as well as the West Port, were demolished by order of the magistrates, that the guns of the castle, and those on the city wall might have free action to play upon the enemy".
• According to the poem by Walter Scott, "Bonnie Dundee" left Edinburgh by the West Port, though historical accounts state that he left by the Netherbow Port.
• The Porteous Riots started with a mob at Portsburgh.
• James Hogg says in Confessions of a Justified Sinner that he had lodgings in Portsburgh.
• The West Port murders were so named as many of the victims were tempted back to Hare's lodgings in Tanner's Close, off the West Port, to be murdered. The site is now occupied by Argyle House.
• The "West Port Experiment" was a model for parochial engagement, conceived by Thomas Chalmers, with a church/school built on the south side of the street to facilitate this.

Recent history and the modern-day street

• Portsburgh Church is on a buildings at risk register.
• The Vennel off the junction of West Port and the Grassmarket was used in the film 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' (1969) when Brodie takes her girls on a walk through the Old Town, ending up in Greyfriars Kirkyard.

Notable buildings still in existence

Buildings built before the 21st Century

The Art Nouveau Salvation Army Women's Hostel at the corner of the Grassmarket, The Vennel and the West Port was built in 1910 and is C Listed. Edinburgh College of Art, purchased and used the Hostel, in addition to the next-door Portsburgh Church, entered via the Vennel. Planning permission was granted in October 2007 for the two buildings to be changed to serviced apartments.

The name of Portsburgh Square on the north side of West Port is a reminder of the area's former name.

21st Century developments

Dominating the north side of the West Port at its junction with Lady Lawson Street is Argyle House, built in 1968 to designs by Michael Laird and Partners. Long used as local and national government offices, it now houses CodeBase, the largest tech incubator in Scotland, University of Edinburgh offices, along with various other businesses.

Evolution House, the newest building of the Edinburgh College of Art stands on the south east corner of West Port and Lady Lawson Street.

Westport 102 was constructed on the West Port side of the block between Lady Lawson Street and Lauriston Street on the site of the old Post Office headquarters, which famously collapsed during demolition in 2007, leading to several roads being closed in the area for an extended period of time.

References

References

1. "Heriot Place and Vennel, Bastion of Flodden Wall, and Telfer Wall (Section)". Historic Environment Scotland.
2. (1846). "'Portree - Pulteney Town', A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland".
3. "Parliamentary register of Portsburgh being declared a burgh in 1649".
4. "Portsburgh Burgh Edinburgh through time {{!}} Administrative history of Scottish Burgh: hierarchies, boundaries".
5. [https://archive.today/20120909055745/http://www.nls.uk/maps/early/towns.cfm?id=421 Map of ''The City of Edinburgh'', published in 1837]
6. [https://archive.today/20130505151505/http://www.nls.uk/maps/early/towns.cfm?id=341 Plan of the City of Edinburgh, including all the latest and intended improvements, 1831 imprint]
7. [https://archive.today/20120912071105/http://www.nls.uk/maps/early/towns.cfm?id=420 Kay's plan of Edinburgh, 1836 imprint]
8. [Caledonian Mercury (Edinburgh, Scotland), Saturday 17 November 1885, Issue 20636]
9. Giovanna Giudicini, ''Triumphal Entries and Festivals in Early Modern Scotland: Performing Spaces'' (Brepols, 2020), p. 83.
10. Giovanna Giudicini, ''Triumphal Entries and Festivals in Early Modern Scotland: Performing Spaces'' (Brepols, 2020), p. 91.
11. "Ch 38: Bristo and the Potterrow - Old and New Edinburgh by James Grant - Volume IV".
12. "The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner / Hogg, James, 1770-1835".
13. Coghill, Hamish. (2004). "Lost Edinburgh". Birlinn Ltd.
14. [http://www.newble.co.uk/chalmers/godlycommon7.html The West Port Experiment] {{Webarchive. link. (5 September 2008, [[Newble.co.uk]])
15. "Trust targets six derelict properties it wants to see brought back to life - Edinburgh Evening News".
16. "Photos and history of The Vennel".
17. "Details of the architectural history of the Salvation Army Women's Hostel".
18. "Permission granted for change of us for the Salvation Army Women's Hostel to serviced apartments".
19. "An old photo of Portsburgh Square".
20. "Welcome to Edinburgh".
21. "Details of Evolution House, built on the corner of West Port and Lady Lawson Street".
22. "New vision for post office HQ is unveiled - Scotsman.com Business".
23. "BBC NEWS {{!}} Scotland {{!}} Edinburgh and East {{!}} Roads closed by building collapse".