Gargoyle

A trip down to Portobello to visit the charity shops to mix it up a little. This Gargoyle is on a building that was the first Portobello town hall erected by Lord Provost A G Home with architect David Bryce. It was only used for 15 years. The ground floor is split between a Baptist Church and a pub, the Portobello Bar.

A larger, and more elegant, Town Hall was built further along the high street. This was used between 1878 and 1896, before a move to an even grander town hall diagonally across the road. The second town hall became the police station. The larger town hall was built when Portobello residents voted to merge with Edinburgh.

A second extra is of St.Mark's Episcopal Church, one of the first Episcopal churches to be built in the Edinburgh area. It was built in 1824. The church is a villa-like neo-Classical church, square in plan, of most notable for its dome and semi-circular Doric porch. You can found out more from the Scotland Churches Trust.

After visiting most of the charity shops that were open, my partner and I had a nice coffee, and snack, in the Skylark bar.