Cannongate

The Canongate is a district of Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The name is inherited from the burgh of the Canongate founded by David I of Scotland c.1143. It was bought by the adjacent city of Edinburgh in 1636 but it remained an autonomous burgh under its own administration until its formal incorporation into the city in 1856.

The burgh gained its name from the route that the canons of Holyrood Abbey took to Edinburgh - the canons' way or the canons' gait, from the Scots word gait meaning "way". In more modern times, the eastern end is sometimes referred to as part of the Holyrood area of the city.

As well as Queensberry House, now incorporated in the new Scottish Parliament Building complex, the Canongate contains other historic buildings including Huntly House (now the Museum of Edinburgh), the Canongate Tolbooth (now housing the People's Story Museum) and the Canongate Kirk, opened in 1691 replacing Holyrood Abbey as the parish church of the Canongate. The church is still used for Sunday services as well as weekday concerts.

The Canongate owes its existence primarily to the establishment of Holyrood Abbey in 1128. King David I, who established the Abbey, gave the surrounding area to the Augustinian canons then resident at Edinburgh Castle in the form of a regality. The King also gave leave to the canons to establish a burgh between the abbey and Edinburgh, and as it was the only burgh within the regality it was given the status of burgh of regality of Canongate. The area originally controlled by the abbey included the lands of Broughton, areas around the Pleasance and North Leith, giving the canons access to a port.

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