George Square, Edinburgh

Today I started on a new additional phase of my physio programme to get me back to all my normal activities - fast walking around the Meadows a couple of times! 

George Square is behind the Meadows. It was originally all Georgian terraced houses surrounding the central garden. It was laid out in 1766 by the builder and architect James Brown and named after his elder brother.  Some well known names have lived on the square including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Walter Scott and Henry Dundas. 

The University of Edinburgh purchased it's first building on George Square in 1914 and by the 1940s owned them all! In 1949 a controversial programme of redevelopment began which involved demoliting many of the buildings.  You can see here the south side of the square which is made up of 1960s / 70s buildings.  The new library in the foreground was designed by Sir Basil Spence. Only the Georgian buildings on the west side of the Square remain.