Back of Parliament House

Category

Library Item

Item no

598

Title

Back of Parliament House

Description

A group of women are collecting water from a water pipe. Some of the women are sitting on stools. A stall of produce stands beside the women. Three men wearing hats are walking towards some steps. A child with an adult stands between the steps and a stairwell to a building. Washing is drying from the windows of a neraby building. A street lamp stands at the top of the stairs infront of a building with a prominant inscription.

Artist / maker

Skene, James

Date

1817

Size

26 x 18 cm.

Type

Watercolour

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

Parliament House stands immediately to the south of St Giles Kirk. It was constructed between 1632-40, at Charles I's instruction, to house the Scottish Parliament. It continued in this role, with the interruption of Cromwell's interregnum, until the Act of Union in 1707. It now houses the Court of Session. The original frontage of the building is concealed behind an early 19th Century façade designed by Robert Reid. Inside the building the original Parliament Hall is notable for its oak hammerbeam roof and a large stained glass window.

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Related subjects

Government > Local > City and town halls

Government > National > Parliaments

Homes > Residential buildings > Tenements

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

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