Overview of Gladstone's Land

Located in the Lawnmarket area of Edinburgh's Old Town, Gladstone's Land is a typical example of 17th Century tenement building. As space was at a premium and proximity to the Royal Mile important, the houses tended to expand and develop in terms of depth and height. Completed in 1620 and rising to a height of six storeys, Gladstone's Land contains furnishings typical of its period and paintings bought by the original owner, the Edinburgh Burgess, Thomas Gledstanes - a remote ancestor of Prime Minister William Gladstone (1808-98). Having been condemned by the city authorities, the property was saved and presented to the National Trust for Scotland in 1934. It was restored by Sir Frank Mears and Robert Hurd (1935-7) and leased to the Saltire Society until 1977. Thereafter it was opened to the public. The painted tempera ceilings are of particular note.