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The Great Britain Guide

Historic houses · Central Scotland

Queensberry House

♿ Wheelchair accessible

Queensberry House — house in City of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

Queensberry House, historic houses in Central Scotland

Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
1 h–2 h
Nearest railway station
Edinburgh Waverley · 0.9 km
  • Family-friendly
  • Wheelchair accessible

About

Queensberry House is a historic house in the United Kingdom — typically a country seat, manor, or town house with notable architecture or history. Heritage designation: category A listed building. Wikidata describes it as: "house in City of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK". Coordinates: 55.9520°, -3.1760°.

Photo gallery

From the Wikipedia article

Queensberry House is a building of 17th-century origin which is now Category A listed by Historic Environment Scotland. It was built between 1667–1670 as a grand lodging house for Margaret Douglas of Balmakelly, and was later modified in 1681 by Charles Maitland of Hatton. The building has an extensive history, most notably when James Douglas, Earl of Drumlanrig and his son, murdered a kitchen boy in 1707, on the same night the Earl of Drumlanrig signed the Act of Union between the Kingdom of Scotland and Kingdom of England. It stands on the south side of the Canongate, Edinburgh, Scotland, incorporated into the Scottish Parliament complex on its north-west corner. After various ownership changes since its opening, it was acquired by the Scottish Government in 1997 for government use, and contains the office of the Presiding Officer, two Deputy Presiding Officers, the Parliament's Chief Executive, and other staff.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

History

The mansion house was built in 1667 for Dame Margaret Douglas of Balmakellie. In 1679, it was sold to Charles Maitland, Lord Hatton, who had been obliged to give up his 'grace and favour' accommodation at the Palace of Holyrood House. Archaeological excavations in advance of the building of the Scottish Parliament complex found evidence of metalworking in the kitchen, likely related to the assaying and refining of precious metals. Given that Lord Hatton was a Master of the Scottish Mint, the archaeologists have hypothesized that it may have been converted to a workshop to debase money from the Royal Mint. Previous domestic buildings on the site included two dwellings which the master of the…

Visiting

Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus novel Set in Darkness, first published in 2000 is partly set in Queensberry House during the reconstruction for the new parliament building.

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
55.9520, -3.1760
Postcode
EH8 8BS
Parliamentary constituency
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh
Nearest railway station
Edinburgh Waverley0.9 km

Sources

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Nearby

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Frequently asked questions

Where is Queensberry House?
Queensberry House is in central Scotland, United Kingdom (postcode EH8 8BS).
Who owns Queensberry House?
Queensberry House is owned by Scottish Government.
Is Queensberry House a listed building?
Queensberry House is officially recognised as category A listed building listed.
How do I get to Queensberry House?
The nearest railway station is Edinburgh Waverley, about 0.9 km away. Drivers can navigate to postcode EH8 8BS.