#Edinburgh Queen - Mary's Bath House

`Queen Mary's Bath House' is a highly unusual and very rare late 16th century survival. Although the original function of this distinctive building remains uncertain, it was most probably a garden pavilion for the then newly created North privy gardens within the grounds of the palace of Holyroodhouse. Its eye-catching, asymmetric form contributes significantly to the Abbeyhill streetscape. It became isolated following demolition of most of the buildings to the N range of the palace grounds, carried out in subsequent years. It forms part of a larger group of structures that comprise the Holyrood Palace complex and was once attached to the former privy garden and palace wall. Old & New Edinburgh (1890) describes the building as situated 'north-eastward of the tennis court" and notes that the tradition of it having been a bath house is of 'considerable antiquity'. Following demolition of a neighbouring building in 1852, the Bath House was repaired and to some extent restored with the two stacks added at this time.