West End, Edinburgh facts for kids
Quick facts for kids West End |
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 Melville Street looking down towards West Register House |
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| Council area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Postcode district | EH2, EH3 |
| Dialling code | 0131 |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
The West End of New Town - also known as Edinburgh's West End or West End Village - is an affluent district of Edinburgh, Scotland, which along with the rest of New Town, and also the Old Town forms central Edinburgh, and Edinburgh's UNESCO World Heritage Site. The area boasts several of the city's hotels, restaurants, independent shops, offices and arts venues, including the Edinburgh Filmhouse, Edinburgh International Conference Centre and the Caledonian Hotel. The area also hosts art festivals and crafts fairs.
The northern part of the West End of New Town sits on the Water of Leith river and forms part of Edinburgh's UNESCO World Heritage Site. The West End of New Town is contiguous with the rest of New Town and is accordingly included in the New Town Conservation Area. As can be inferred therefore, this area of the city contains many buildings of great architectural beauty, primarily long rows and crescents of Georgian terraced houses. The West End of New Town also incorporates many of the New Town Gardens, a heritage designation since 2001.
The district is one of Edinburgh's most affluent areas, and includes many of the most expensive streets in Scotland's capital. Many nations have their consulates in the West End. The Scottish Episcopal Church has its headquarters, Forbes House, in the district and the official residence of the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is also located here.
The West End district is immediately west of the rest of the New Town, and also the Old Town. It is bordered to the north by the Stockbridge and Ravelston districts, Tollcross and Fountainbridge districts to the south, and West Coates, Haymarket and Murrayfield to the West.
Contents
Transport
Rail
Since the closure of the Princes Street railway station, Haymarket station on the West End/Haymarket border serves as the nearest railway station for most of the area. The station opened in 1842 and was the original terminus of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, however as the line was extended it became an intermediate station on the extension to Princes Street Railway Station and later Edinburgh Waverley. An extensive refurbishment of Haymarket Station, with the addition of a new concourse and entrance was completed in 2013.
Tram
The island tram stop at Coates Crescent on Shandwick Place was named West End - Princes Street prior to opening at the request of local traders. As this stop sits on a switching point, it can act as an eastern terminus when Princes Street is closed to traffic. The Princes Street suffix was dropped in 2019 and the stop is now known as West End.
| Preceding station | Edinburgh Trams | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princes Street towards York Place |
York Place - Edinburgh Airport | Haymarket towards Airport |
Buses
The Shandwick Place/ Maitland Street corridor is well-served by Lothian Buses and other operators with destinations outwith Edinburgh.
All buses eastwards go to Princes Street, where there are easy links to the Lothian Road corridor. Westward routes split at Haymarket: either to the Gorgie/Dalry district or westwards to Roseburn, Murrayfield and Corstorphine.
Economy
The West End is home to a large number of offices, shops, restaurants, bars and cultural venues.
In recent history the West End has become associated with Bohemianism and the arts. The Edinburgh Filmhouse opened in the 1970's and is home to the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the world's oldest continually running film festival. The Scottish Arts Club, which opened in 1873 has retained a home on 24 Rutland Square. The West End is also home to a number of venues for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, as well as hosting the Edinburgh Festival West End Fair, Edinburgh’s largest Arts, Crafts and Design Fair. The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art has both galleries in the West End - Modern One and Modern Two - to the west of the West End Village.
The West End is popular with tourists, and has several hotels and hostels, including the Bonham (on Drumsheugh Gardens), the Edinburgh Grosvenor (on Grosvenor Street), the Guards Hotel, and the Haymarket Hub hotel (on Haymarket Street), and the Thistle Hotel (on Manor Place). William Street has become a popular tourist shopping destination, mainly because of the 19th century style shopfronts. It is known for its upmarket independent fashion boutiques comparable to London's Notting Hill. It has also become a location sought after by location scouts in the film industry.
The food and drink sector is also prominent in the West End, with a number of restaurants across the district, and the Edinburgh tasting room of fine wine merchant Justerini & Brooks on Alva Street.
The West End contains several consulates and High Commissions, including those of Germany (on Eglinton Crescent), Switzerland (on Manor Place), Turkey (on Drumsheugh Gardens), India, Norway and New Zealand (on Rutland Square), and Italy, Russia and Taiwan (on Melville Street).
The Edinburgh International Conference Centre is located in the South West End in the Exchange District, a regenerated business district that opened in the mid 1990s. Large employers in the West End include Standard Life, whose headquarters is located on the western side of Lothian Road. The Exchange Tower in the West End is central Edinburgh's tallest building. This part of the West End is also home to news media outlets and film and television production companies.
Education
St Mary's Music School is a mixed music school in the West End, established in 1880. The Song School and Walpole Hall are listed buildings, containing murals by Phoebe Anna Traquair and designed by the architects Robert Rowand Anderson and Robert Lorimer respectively.
The West End has no State primary or secondary schools within its geographical area; the nearest primary schools are Dalry Primary School in Dalry and Tollcross Primary School in Tollcross, and the nearest secondary schools are Boroughmuir High School and Broughton High School. Torphichen Street School was a combined infant and juvenile school in the West End built in 1887, but it was closed in the 20th century and converted to offices.
The West End is well served for private schools. Stewart's Melville College, an independent day and boarding school established in 1832 (originally on Melville Street) lies in the north of the district. Several other private schools, such as Fettes College and St George's School lie within walking distance in neighboring districts of the West End Village.
Notable landmarks
The West End is a large draw to tourists and visitors to Edinburgh. The Georgian architecture of the New Town and the West End of New Town together form the largest area of Georgian architecture in Europe, and it is part of what gives Edinburgh its UNESCO World Heritage Site status. It was referred to as "the Scottish Enlightenment in stone" and "the Athens of the North". Both the medieval Easter Coates House and later gothic St Mary's Cathedral provide a contrast to the Georgian architecture. The West End has a heritage trail that includes signs exploring famous places and residents of the West End.
Museums
The Museum of the Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh - the ancient body of craftsmen of Edinburgh with a history dating back past 1424 - is at their headquarters at Ashfield House, number 61 Melville Street in the West End Village. On the ground floor there are four rooms, three of which house the museum collection of artefacts and the Convenery’s Hall; the fourth room houses the library and archive.
Art galleries
The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art lies on the far north-western edge of the West End, adjacent to Deans. The Gallery is split across two buildings; the former John Watson's Institution known as Modern One and Modern Two in a former orphan hospital. There are also a number of private art galleries across the district.
Screen and stage
The Edinburgh Filmhouse is based in the West End of Edinburgh and hosts the Edinburgh Film Festival. The Usher Hall concert venue and Royal Lyceum Theatre are on the South West End and Old Town border in Festival Square. The South West End is also home to the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
Images for kids
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Easter Coates House
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25 Melville Street
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An example of a town house on Alva Street, highlighting the work of Gillespie Graham
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St Marys Cathedral Edinburgh from Melville St
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Drumsheugh Gardens
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Morrison Street and the Edinburgh International Conference Centre
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Looking down the West End side of the Lothian Road
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SNGMA The Building
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Albert Gallery, Shandwick Place
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Map of the city, showing the West End - the section in orange inside the red line (the red line demarks the outline of the Edinburgh UNESCO World Heritage Site.)
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Georgian terrace houses on Atholl Crescent in Edinburgh
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Palmerston Place Church Edinburgh (completed 1875)
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