Victoria Street, formerly called Bow Street, was once the main entrance to get into the city and up Castle Hill from the West. Originally just referred to as the West Bow, the steep Z-shaped street was quite difficult to handle for carriages getting up into the city. Then in the early 19th century the street was transformed to its current shape and in 1837 renamed when Queen Victoria was crowned. An upper level terrace was created on the northern side of the street, providing the perspectives to photograph this panorama along the street from an elevated position (something very unique compared to most of our other streetline panoramas).
Architectural Character
Here we see the southern side of the street. At its foot at the Grassmarket (visible in the back at the right edge) some of the older buildings were retained, while most buildings along the new street were errected in the 19th century – most notably so the grand India Buildings on the left, constructed in 1864. They were originally designed by architect John Henderson, but after his death, David Cousins took over the plans and redesigned the buildings. The result was a dramatically towering office complex which curves around the street. The style is known as “Old Flemish”, a variation of the Scotch Baronial style.
The central building is the former St John’s Church and Parish School with 1,000 seats, built in 1838, which now houses a restaurant. The street is now very popular with tourists as well, being the main connection between Grassmarket and Castle Hill and featuring lots of design, fashion and vintage shops – especially behind the colourful shop fronts on its northern side. Find more info about the history of the street in this Lost Edinburgh article in the Scotsman.
This Old Town streetview panorama of Edinburgh was presented in week 20 of our 101 weeks 101 cities of europe project, together with more streetline views of Edinburgh’s Old Town and New Town. Find a summary in our Edinburgh blog post as well.
