28 September 2025 (11:00 - 16:00)
Riddle’s Court is a picturesque Category A-listed merchant’s tenement situated on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. Each room reveals a different chapter of its 500-year history, from a painted ceiling installed for a royal banquet to one created for students to dine under. It is a building as beautiful as it is intriguing and one whose story is intimately connected with that of Edinburgh Old Town.
From 2015 to 2017, the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT) undertook a major conservation and regeneration project at Riddle’s Court, which saw over £6 million invested into the building to bring it back to life and secure its future. Riddle’s Court has now reopened as a unique venue for exceptional events. The building is also home to SHBT’s Head Office and is integral to running our public knowledge-sharing events.
Staff will be onsite to offer knowledge and insight into the building’s past and the stories of its former occupants.

2025 Theme Architectural Heritage: Windows to the Past, Doors to the Future
Riddle’s Court is full of authentic period features including exquisite painted and plastered ceilings, working fireplaces and panelled rooms.
Located at the top of the Royal Mile, and only a short walk from Edinburgh Castle, the history of Riddle’s Court extends back into the Medieval Era. However, the building as we understand it today was amalgamated and rebuilt by Baillie John McMorran in the 1590s. Its purpose was to be a high-status, multiple-occupancy dwelling, providing its residents with privacy as well as the convenience of a central location.
Its grandeur when first built is evidenced by the fact that it was the town residence of the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, and later Lord Chancellor of Scotland, Alexander Seton and in 1598 played host to a grand banquet attended by King James VI and his wife Anne of Denmark. It became known as Riddle’s Court after 1726, when George Riddell purchased and reconstructed the part of the site facing the Lawnmarket.
Like many other properties in the Old Town, the status of Riddle’s Court declined during the late 18th century when its wealthy residents moved to the newly-built and more spacious New Town. In the 1830s, the southern-most parts of the building were demolished and its façade reconstructed to bring it in-line with the new Victoria Terrace, commissioned as part of the 1827 Edinburgh Improvement Act.
Further parts of the building were demolished in the 1890s by Patrick Geddes. Geddes was a true polymath – a biologist and sociologist as well as a philanthropist, educator and town planner. His work at Riddle’s Court was motivated by his principle of ‘conservative surgery’, which aimed to preserve the most historically significant parts of Old Town buildings by demolishing the more dilapidated parts, making what remained more hygienic and suitable for modern living. Patrick Geddes converted the main part of Riddle’s Court into one of Edinburgh’s first student halls of residence. His motto ‘Vivendo Discimus’, ‘By Living We Learn’, remains carved over the entrance to the inner courtyard, a sign of how his educational philosophy continues to influence the use of the building and SHBT’s wider approach to learning.

Lift available but unsuitable for larger mechanical wheelchairs or mobility scooters

Address
Riddle's Court, 322 Lawnmarket, Edinburgh, EH1 2PG