Georgian buildings, Princes Street

Image: © kim traynor Taken: 4 Jul 2010

There is hardly any part of today's Princes Street that gives an impression of what it looked like when first built in the 1760s and 70s. Most of the buildings fell victim to the commercially hard-nosed Victorians who demolished almost everything in the name of progress. These buildings at the corner of Frederick Street and Princes Street are one of the last remaining spots which, apart from the later shop fronts, give a flavour of the original architecture which made the street admired throughout Europe. "The growth of shops of all kinds in the New Town is remarkable. I believe there were not half-a-dozen of them in the whole New Town, west of St Andrew Street, in 1810. The dislike to them was so great, that any proprietor who allowed one was abused as an unneighbourly fellow." -- Henry Cockburn, Memorials Of His Time, 1856

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