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Edinburgh
"Croft-an-Righ"
A 16th Century house at
Abbeyhill |
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Recollections
1
Maurice
Wilkins
Oban, Argyll, Scotland |
Thank you to Maurice Wilkins, Oban, Argyll, Scotland for sending
me these recollections of Croft-an-Righ, a 16th
century house at Abbey Hill, a short distance to the north
of
Holyrood Palace and Abbey.
©
Maurice wrote: |
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The House
"I lived for a few years in the old
house of Croft-an-Righ, off Abbeyhill, while working as a gardener
at Holyrood Palace, from 1973-76.
I visited it again last year on Open
Doors day, 2003, Having a resurgence of interest in old Edinburgh.
The house is said to have been built originally for Regent Moray
in 1588.
I'm sure it's the most interesting
house I shall ever live in! I remember the difficulty I had in
drilling holes to take the curtain rails! Solid rock!
©
The engraving
(above, published 1890)
is amazing! The house is so similar to its state today.
©
We occupied the two top floors. The
number of times I have walked down the front steps and back in
through the small door beyond the turret, to climb a set of wooden
steps to enter the Palace gardens!
Mr Duthie the Chargehand, my boss,
lived with his family in the two lower floors and entered through
the door just this side of the steps." |
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The Palace Grounds
"Looking back it was interesting
working in the Palace grounds too - I'll always remember going
down the garden one morning to find a huge hole in the lawn
exposing a wonderful stone-built culvert with the section of an
egg in shape, about 4-5ft high. Shining a torch along it showed it
to be intact as far as the beam would reach in both directions -
from the old town area towards Portobello.
As far as I remember, it was just
filled in without ceremony. I suppose it was just a drain.
I also remember someone digging in the
frame yard to lay pipes and uncovering a mass of yellowing bones.
The police were called as a formality but they were a few hundred
years too late, probably being a plague graveyard.
The other thing that stands out in my
mind is creeping across the lawn and daring to go into the abbey
ruins at midnight, for some reason. That was before the
surveillance equipment went in, of course!" |
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Maurice Wilkins, Oban, Argyll, Scotland: October 5
to 17, 2003 |
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Recollections
2
Kate Hull
Devon, England |
Thank you to Kate Hull who
wrote: |
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Other Residents
"My
family lived at
Croft -an-Righ between 1958 and 1960, also occupying the top two
floors as did Maurice
Wilkins.
We knew the Duthies
who occupied the ground and first floors, and their
daughter Anne was just a little older than me. Unfortunately we
have lost touch with her."
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My Father
"My father
was Basil Fox. He was one of the
Assistant Curators of the Botanical Gardens. There were four of
us children, and the youngest was born in the house." |
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School
"I was the
oldest and went to Sciennes School with one of my brothers. The
reason for that being that when we arrived in Edinburgh the top
floors of the house were being renovated and we had to lodge in
Warrender Park Road until it was ready.
I had already been to a number of
schools and so my parents did not want to move us again. I
remember having to take two bus journeys, changing on George IV
Bridge each day." |
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At Play
"I remember
being able to view the Palace Garden Parties from our kitchen
turret and St James Park was my playground. We used to get quite
black - the city has certainly been cleaned up since those days!" |
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Easter Road
"I read some
of the comments on your site and I also remember the Cinema and
the shops in Easter Road as I used to go shopping
there for my mother at times. I was 9-11 years old whilst
there. My mother was busy with the
two youngest children."
The top of Easter Road was
close to Croft-an-Righ at Abbey Hill |
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Leaving Edinburgh
"I loved
Edinburgh, although we were only there
for a short time, and did not want to
leave! We moved to Wales and since then I have visited Edinburgh
briefly only a few times but never stayed." |
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Kate Hull, Devon, England: August 9, 2009 |
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