Crocket's Land

Originally very much part of the Medieval street plan of the West Bow, the house burnt down in the early 18th century and was replaced with an interesting Dutch gabled building with its own internal timber stairs. The house retains its internal panelling on all floors.

Built around 1705 by Thomas Crockett of Johnstounburn. Before the 1827 Improvement Act, West Bow was a steep Z-shaped street which climbed from the Grassmarket to Upper Bow at the foot of Castlehill. Most of the old buildings in West Bow were swept away to make room for the northern side of Victoria Street, built to link the Grassmarket with the new George IV Bridge. Before their demolition, Thomas Hamilton, the architect for the scheme, made careful elevational drawings of the buildings showing that the first five houses at the lower end of the street on the west remain.

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