View source for Cowgate

{{Short description|Street in Edinburgh, Scotland}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox street
| name                    = Cowgate
| native_name             ={{native name|sco|Cougait}}
| image                   = Cowgate, Edinburgh.JPG
| caption                 = The Cowgate, viewed from George IV Bridge
| other_name              = 
| former_names            = 
| postal_code             = EH1
| addresses               = 
| length_mi               = 0.4
| length_ref              = <ref>{{cite web|title=Driving directions to Cowgate|url=https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Cowgate&daddr=Cowgate&hl=en&sll=55.948587,-3.187516&sspn=0.007257,0.017703&geocode=FYGyVQMdUEbP_w%3BFbC3VQMd-mzP_w&t=h&mra=dme&mrsp=0&sz=16&z=16|publisher=Google Maps|access-date=11 October 2013}}</ref>
| width                   =
| location                = Edinburgh, Scotland
| client                  =
| maint                   =
| coordinates             =
| direction_a             = West
| terminus_a              = Candlemaker Row
| direction_b             = East
| terminus_b              = [[The Pleasance]]
| junction                =
| commissioning_date      =
| construction_start_date =
| completion_date         = 
| inauguration_date       = <!-- {{Start date|df=yes|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| demolition_date         =
| north                   =
| south                   =
| west                    =
| east                    =
}}
The '''Cowgate''' ([[Scots language|Scots]]: The Cougait) is a street in [[Edinburgh]], Scotland, located about {{convert|550|yd|m}} southeast of [[Edinburgh Castle]], within the city's [[World Heritage Site]]. The street is part of the lower level of Edinburgh's [[Old Town, Edinburgh|Old Town]], which lies below the elevated streets of [[South Bridge, Edinburgh|South Bridge]] and [[George IV Bridge]]. It meets the [[Grassmarket]] at Cowgatehead at its west end and [[Holyrood, Edinburgh|Holyrood]] Road to the east.

==History==
[[File:Connolly.james.jpg|right|300px|thumb|[[James Connolly]], an Irish socialist leader who was born in Cowgate]]

=== Early history ===
The Cowgate developed around 1330 and represented  Edinburgh’s first municipal extension. The original settlement on the Cowgate was concentrated on the south side because of a [[Burn (landform)|burn]] on the north, though that was filled in around 1490 and built upon. Archaeological excavations in the 2006 and 2007 found a boundary ditch, dating to the 14th century, near [[St Patrick's Church, Edinburgh|St Patrick's Church]] which might have been the full extent of the Cowgate at that time.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Vol 42 (2011): Through the Cowgatelife in 15th-century Edinburgh as revealed by excavations at St Patrick's Church {{!}} Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports|url=http://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/sair/issue/view/70|access-date=2021-08-18|website=journals.socantscot.org}}</ref> 

The street's name is recorded from 1428, in various spellings, as Cowgate and in 1498 as Via Vaccarum. It is derived from the medieval practice of herding cattle down the street on market days; a number of other streets in the old town of Edinburgh (such as Grassmarket and Lawnmarket) also reflect their market roots. ''Gate'' is a [[Scots language]] word for "way" or "road", a cognate of similar words in other Germanic languages (compare with ''[[:wikt:gait|gait]]'').<ref name="placenames">{{cite web | url = http://www.spns.org.uk/PNsMIDLOTHIANv3.pdf | title = The Placenames of Midlothian | access-date = 2013-02-23 | last = Dixon | first = Norman | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110827184800/http://spns.org.uk/PNsMIDLOTHIANv3.pdf | archive-date = 2011-08-27 }}</ref>

Cowgate Port, a gatehouse in the [[Edinburgh town walls|city wall]], was erected in 1516 and stood at the junction with St Mary’s Wynd.<ref name=":0" /> Describing the street in the 1581 edition of their atlas of major cities ''Civitates orbis terrarum'', [[Georg Braun]] and Frans Hogenberg said the Cow Gate was where "...the noble families and city councillors have their residences, together with other princely houses and palaces most handsome to behold."<ref name="Civitates">{{cite book |page=43 |author=John Goss |title=Braun & Hogenberg's "The City Maps of Europe" |isbn=1-85170-732-8 |year=1991}}</ref>

[[Mary, Queen of Scots]], stayed for a time in 1566 in a Cowgate house where the [[Court of Exchequer (Scotland)|Court of the Exchequer]] met. The ''[[Exchequer Rolls of Scotland|Exchequer Rolls]]'' mention that she and her nobles were provided with wine, bread, beer, meat fish, spices, pewter, and napkins.<ref>''Exchequer Rolls'', 19 (Edinburgh, 1898), pp. lviii, 395.</ref> After [[Act Anent the demission of the Crown in favour of our Sovereign Lord, and his Majesty's Coronation 1567|her abdication]], her enemies and [[George Buchanan]] described her visits to the [[James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell|Earl of Bothwell]] in an adjacent house, facilitated by [[Margaret Beaton|Margaret Beaton, Lady Reres]].<ref>[http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/mqs/trans.html George Buchanan, ''Ane Detectioun of the Duinges of Marie Quene of  Scottes'', (1571).]</ref><ref>R. H. Mahon, [https://archive.org/details/indictmentofmary00buchuoft/page/34/mode/2up ''The indictment of Mary Queen of Scots'' (Cambridge, 1923), p. 35]</ref><ref>''Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1563–1569'', vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1900), p. 556 no. 902.</ref>

Between the mid 18th and mid 20th centuries the Cowgate was a poor, often overcrowded slum area. In the 19th century it was home to much of the city's Irish immigrant community and nicknamed "Little Ireland".<ref name="Levenson">{{Cite book | last = Levenson | first = Samuel | title = James Connolly: a biography | publisher = Martin Brian and O'Keeffe | year = 1973 | location = London | page = 28 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=atIuAAAAIAAJ&q=%22james+connolly%22++%22Little+Ireland%22. | isbn = 9780856161308}}</ref>

===2002 fire and modern history===
[[File:First morning after the fire.jpg|thumb|200px|South Bridge closed after the Cowgate fire in 2002]]

In the evening of 7 December 2002, a fire started above the Belle Angele nightclub off the Cowgate. It swept up through the eight storey structure to other buildings on Cowgate and above it on [[South Bridge, Edinburgh|South Bridge]].<ref name="guardian"/> The complicated nature of the buildings, with narrow alleys and entrances from the same building onto streets at different heights, complicated efforts to fight the fire, and was later called a "rabbit warren" by [[Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade]].<ref name="guardian"/> It took more than a day for the fire, fought at its height by 19 fire crews, to be brought under control, and several days for it to be completely extinguished. 150 people were forced to flee the flames, but there were no deaths.<ref name="guardian"/>

The [[University of Edinburgh School of Informatics]] on South Bridge was badly damaged; the school was a pioneer in the study of [[artificial intelligence]] in the 1950s and one of the world's most comprehensive archival libraries in this field was destroyed by the fire. Little current research data was lost in the fire due to offsite backups. In 2005 work began on a new building, the [[Informatics Forum]], which was occupied mid-2008.

Also destroyed was the [[Gilded Balloon]], a major venue for the [[Edinburgh Fringe]], and offices for both the Gilded Balloon and [[Underbelly (venue)|Underbelly]] venues housed in an 1823 listed warehouse by [[Thomas Hamilton (architect)|Thomas Hamilton]]. The Gilded Balloon later moved to premises in [[Teviot Row House]].<ref>{{cite web|title=History of the Gilded Balloon|url=http://www.gildedballoon.co.uk/about/history|website=Gilded Balloon|access-date=28 October 2014}}</ref>

The site was temporarily used as a Fringe venue again when it became the C venues' Urban Garden during the 2007 Edinburgh Festival.<ref>{{cite web |title=C Soco Urban Garden |url=https://edinburghguide.com/venues/only-at-the-fringe/c-soco-urban-garden |website=EdinburghGuide.com |access-date=5 November 2021 |language=EN}}</ref>

The owners and displaced tenants together with Edinburgh City appointed McGregor CS to act as lead to piece together the interests so that the site could be redeveloped. The site was then marketed widely and six developers were shortlisted. The gap site was then acquired by the property developer Whiteburn, who were granted planning permission in January 2009 to build a new [[mixed-use development]] using the site and existing adjacent buildings.<ref>{{cite web|title=Transforming Edinburgh|url=http://premierconstructionnews.com/2013/06/06/transforming-edinburgh/|publisher=Premier Construction Magazine|access-date=11 October 2013|date=6 June 2013}}</ref> Construction began in 2012 and was completed in late 2013. The main components of the development are a small [[Sainsbury's]] supermarket, a 259-bed [[Ibis Hotel]], shops, restaurants, a nightclub and a [[vennel]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Road closures to allow Soco development to move ahead|url=http://www.theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2013/06/road-closures-to-allow-soco-development-to-move-ahead/|publisher=The Edinburgh Reporter|access-date=11 October 2013|author=Phyllis Stephen|date=20 June 2013}}</ref>

In 2016, protesters (including local homeless people) camped out in Cowgate to prevent the building of luxury hotel by Jansons Property.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/protesters-camp-out-in-bid-to-hobble-65m-old-town-hotel-1-4146038|title=Protesters camp out in bid to hobble £65m Old Town hotel|website=www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com|access-date=2016-12-18}}</ref> The protesters  argued that the development might damage Edinburgh's [[List of World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories|UNESCO]] status, would displace homeless people, would remove a medical facility for the homeless and would block the natural light of the [[Central Library, Edinburgh|Edinburgh Central Library]]. MSP [[Andy Wightman]] offered his support to the campaign.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/sep/08/edinburgh-endarkenment-public-land-luxury-hotel-india-buildings|title=Edinburgh's age of endarkenment: development is 'ripping heart from city'|last=Goodwin|first=Karin|date=2016-09-08|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-12-18}}</ref> Planning permission for the [[Virgin Hotels|Virgin Hotel]], which includes the India Buildings on Victoria Street and a facade on Cowgate, was granted in 2016. However, in 2018 councillors asked that developers use light coloured materials to reflect more light into the Central Library.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-10-05 |title=Virgin Hotel developers told to ensure natural light can enter library |url=https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/virgin-hotel-developers-told-to-ensure-natural-light-can-enter-library-566318 |access-date=2025-06-29 |website=Edinburgh News |language=en}}</ref> 

On 2 November 2024 a severed head was discovered in the Cowgate. The head is believed to be that of a 74 year old man who had been hit by a bus.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Social media restraint appeal as man killed by bus in Edinburgh's Cowgate |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj3mxvvr7vro |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB}}</ref> Police were called around 7:25 PM, closed off the area, blocked the view of the scene from the [[South Bridge, Edinburgh|South Bridge]] and evacuated the nearby pubs.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sanderson |first=Daniel |date=2024-11-03 |title=Pensioner dies in crash amid reports of ‘severed head’ found in Edinburgh street |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/03/severed-head-edinburgh-street-partygoers/ |access-date=2024-11-04 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

==Buildings==
[[File:Magdalen Chapel, Cowgate Edinburgh.jpg|thumb|120px|[[Magdalen Chapel, Edinburgh|Magdalen Chapel]]<br> in Cowgate]]

The oldest building lies to the west end, but is sandwiched between other larger buildings and easily missed. It stands on the south side of the street, just west of where George IV Bridge crosses over the Cowgate. This is the [[Magdalen Chapel, Edinburgh|Magdalen Chapel]], a 16th-century almshouse chapel built with monies left by Michael MacQueen in 1537. Work was completed in 1544 and it operated as a hospital almshouse (dedicated to [[Mary Magdalen]]) under the control of MacQueen's widow, Janet Rynd until her death in 1553, when it passed to the Incorporation of Hammermen (metalworkers). The entrance as seen from the Cowgate was rebuilt in 1613. The spire was added in 1620.<ref name="mcwilliam"/>

[[File:St. Patrick's RC Church, Cowgate.JPG|thumb|140px|[[St Patrick's Church, Edinburgh|St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church]]]]
[[St Cecilia's Hall]] by [[Robert Mylne (architect)|Robert Mylne]] was built for the Musical Society of Edinburgh in 1763. It now houses a small Georgian concert space and an important collection of early keyboard instruments owned by [[University of Edinburgh|Edinburgh University]].<ref name="cecilias"/>

[[St Patrick's Church, Edinburgh|St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church]] stands at the east end of the Cowgate. It dates from 1772 but was extensively remodelled in 1929 following demolition of the tenements along the north side of the Cowgate which previously obscured its frontage.<ref name="mcwilliam"/>

The former Cowgatehead Free Church is located at the western end of Cowgate. It was built in 1861 in the Gothic style, and has an octagonal entrance tower. By 2000 it was no longer in use as a church,<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Clinic, 14-20 Cowgate, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Edinburgh |url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/200395243-clinic-14-20-cowgate-edinburgh-edinburgh |access-date=2025-06-29 |website=British Listed Buildings}}</ref> and was later incorporated as part of the Virgin Hotel.

Both the [[National Library of Scotland]] and the [[Central Library, Edinburgh|Edinburgh Central Library]] have their lower floors on the Cowgate, with public access being on George IV Bridge above.

==Notable people==
* [[Janet Boyman]], executed for [[witchcraft]] on 29 December 1572; court documents record her home as the Cowgate.<ref>{{citation |last=Henderson |first=Lizanne |chapter='Detestable slaves of the devil': Changing ideas about witchcraft in sixteenth-century Scotland |editor1-last=Cowan |editor1-first=Edward J. |editor2-last=Henderson |editor2-first=Lizanne |title=A History of Everyday Life in Medieval Scotland, 1000 to 1600 |year=2011 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0748621576}}</ref>
* [[James Connolly]], Irish revolutionary was born in 1868 at number 107 Cowgate.<ref name="Levenson"/> In Cowgate there is a likeness of Connolly and a gold-coloured plaque dedicated to him under the George IV bridge.<ref>{{cite web |title=James Connolly gold plaque |url=https://openplaques.org/plaques/10389 |publisher=openplaques.org}}</ref>
* Football club [[Hibernian F.C.]] was founded by congregants of [[St Patrick's Church, Edinburgh|St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church]] in the Cowgate in August 1875 – the club was based at St Patrick's until the early 1890s, and cups the club won from this period are still displayed in the church.
*Canon [[John Gray (poet)|John Gray]], poet and priest was a curate at St Patrick's.
*Venerable [[Margaret Sinclair (nun)|Margaret Sinclair]] lived at Blackfriars Street, just off the Cowgate.

==References==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name="mcwilliam">''The Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh'' by Colin McWilliam</ref>

<ref name="guardian">
{{cite news
|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/dec/09/gerardseenan
|title=Fire devastates Edinburgh's Old Town
|author=Gerard Seenan	
|newspaper=The Guardian
|date=9 December 2002
}}
</ref>

<ref name="cecilias">
{{cite web
|url=http://www.music.ed.ac.uk/euchmi/sch/
|title=Musical Instrument Museums Edinburgh
|website=University of Edinburgh
|access-date=3 July 2013
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316024710/http://www.music.ed.ac.uk/euchmi/sch/
|archive-date=16 March 2013
}}
</ref>

}}

==External links==
*[http://maps.nls.uk/view/90720679#zoom=7&lat=8230&lon=10004&layers=BT Map showing the Cowgate (Bartholomew 1932-33)]
*[http://www.oldandnewedinburgh.co.uk/pagedisplay.php?volume=4&page=58 Chapter XXXI - The Cowgate] in ''Old and New Edinburgh'' by James Grant, published by Cassell in the 1880s
*[http://www.whiteburn.co.uk/index.php/news/new-vision-for-fire-hit-cowgate-site-in-edinburgh/ 'SoCo' proposal for the Cowgate fire gap site]

{{Portal bar|Roads|Scotland}}
{{Streets and Squares in Edinburgh|state=collapsed}}
{{Transport in Edinburgh}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|55|56|55|N|3|11|18|W|type:landmark|display=title}}

[[Category:Irish diaspora in Scotland]]
[[Category:Streets in Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Old Town, Edinburgh]]
[[Category:History of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:2002 in Scotland]]
[[Category:Burned buildings and structures in the United Kingdom]]