Edinburgh New Town
Conceived during the 18th Century, the New Town emerged to alleviate the over-crowding of the Old Town tenements, and to offer a gracious way of life. An extension to the city was proposed and the New Town was born. With its sweeping crescents and elegant circuses it was the city’s expression of the enlightenment.
Unlike the medieval part of the city where residents lived cheek by jowl, plans for the New Town were rigorously adhered to with the result that a very regular, elegant pattern of Georgian terraces and squares developed.
It was in the New Town that many of Edinburgh’s famous figures lived. Two of the most famous were Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone and Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of “Treasure Island” and “Kidnapped”.
