Blackfriars Street

An ancient thoroughfare in Edinburgh's Old Town, Blackfriars Street descends steeply to the south from the High Street to the Cowgate. It began as Blackfriars Wynd, named after the Dominican Monastery which once lay just to the south, but was widened following the City Improvement Act of 1867 by demolishing its eastern side. Notable buildings which remain are the High Street Hostel, once Morton House (1564) from which wooden galleries projected into the street. Cross House, which was built in 1643 as Skinner's Hall, sits back from the street. New housing was built on the east side in the 1870s, with the nearest block to the High Street modelled on Gladstone's Land by the Edinburgh City Architect, Robert Morham (1839 - 1912). The former United Presbyterian Church (1871) is also by Morham.

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