A Timeline of Edinburgh

By Tim Lambert

1100 A town grows up near a castle at Edinburgh

1128 David I founds Holyrood Abbey

1296 The English capture Edinburgh Castle

1300 Edinburgh is well known for making wool cloth. It is exported from Leith.

1322 The Scots recapture Edinburgh Castle

1329 Edinburgh is given a charter (a document granting the townspeople certain rights).

1385 The English burn St Giles Kirk and Edinburgh Town Hall

1500 Edinburgh is a flourishing town with a population of about 12,000. (By the standards of the time it was a large town).

1513-1560 A wall is built south of Edinburgh

1547 The English sack Edinburgh Castle

c. 1570 Huntly House is built

1583 Edinburgh University is founded

1585 Plague strikes Edinburgh

1591 Canongate Tolbooth is built

1593 Lauriston Castle is built

1604 Plague strikes Edinburgh again

1620 Gladstones land is built

1621 Thatched roofs are banned in Edinburgh because of the risk of fire

1633 Acheson House is built. Charles I is crowned king in Edinburgh.

1645 Plague strikes Edinburgh once more

1650 The English occupy Edinburgh

1670 The Botanic Garden is founded

1685 A statue of King Charles II is erected in Edinburgh

1688 Canongate Kirk is built

1700 The population of Edinburgh is about 50,000

1759 The Nor Loch, a body of water north of Edinburgh is drained

1767 A competition is held for the best plan to build a new town on the land north of Edinburgh (because the old town is getting very overcrowded). The competition is won by James Craig.

1772 North Bridge is built

1783 The Royal Edinburgh Society is founded

1787 The Assembly Rooms are built

1791 Charlotte Square is built

1801 The population of Edinburgh is approaching 100,000

1816 The Nelson Monument is erected

1832 Cholera strikes Edinburgh

1842 The railway reaches Edinburgh

1846 The Scott Monument is erected

1848-49 Edinburgh suffers another outbreak of cholera

1851 The population of Edinburgh reaches 170,000

1870 The Royal Infirmary is built

1889 The National Portrait Gallery opens

1895 Edinburgh is lit by electricity

1903 The Floral Clock is made

1914 Usher Hall opens

1927 The Scottish National War Memorial is built

1932 The Museum of Edinburgh opens

1933 Portobello Swimming Pool opens

1947 The first Edinburgh Festival is held

1955 The Museum of Childhood opens

1963 Traverse Theatre opens

1970 St James Shopping Centre opens

1980 The City Art Centre opens

1984 Cameron Toll Shopping Centre opens

1985 Princes Mall opens

1989 The Peoples Story Museum opens

1993 The Gyles Shopping Centre opens

1995 The International Conference Centre opens in Edinburgh

1997 The Scottish Tartan Museum opens

1999 The Scottish Parliament opens in Edinburgh

2001 Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre opens

2006 The National Museum of Scotland is formed

2014 Edinburgh tram system begins