This street front begins at Shandwick Place on the left and runs along the short front of Hope Street and then Charlotte Square and ends at the beginning slope of Glenfinlas Street at the right edge. Charlotte Square is located at the west end of George Street and thus also forms the centre of the west end of the New Town of Edinburgh. At the centre of Charlotte Square we see the former St. George’s Church, which now houses the West Register House.
New Town
The New Town was planned in the mid 18th century to extend the overcrowded Old Town and offer new spacious homes to the wealthy of the city. It’s layout was designed by the architect James Craig and the New Town was realized in stages between 1767 and ca. 1820. Its development was shaped by the scottish Age of Enlightenment and resulted in a consistent cityscape of neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. In 1995 both the Old Town and the New Town of Edinburgh were awarded UNESCO world heritage site status.
Architecture
Most of the buildings in this section were built after the 1791 design of Robert Adam, who died in 1792 before the buildings were errected. The main building on Charlotte Square was St. George’s Church, designed by Robert Reid (similar to Adam’s plan) in 1811, which opened in 1814. It was converted in 1964 and now houses the West Register House, one of the main buildings of the National Records of Scotland.
Amongst the preview images for this panorama you will also find a test view of the Glenfinlas Street, which extends the Streetline to the right.
