GLADSTONE'S COURT

This site was renamed in honour of William Gladstone MP, formerly Prime Minister, and had a bowling green overlooked by the Tolbooth Gaol.

In 1805 this green was the site for the Magdalene Asylum, an institution for 'young girls or fallen women who have deviated from the path of virtue and peace'.

The Edinburgh Gaslight Company was also based here, supplying the first gas-lit lamps to the stretch between the Bridges and Parliament Square in 1820.