Historic & modern
The Edinburgh Academy is located in the "New Town" of Edinburgh, construction of which began in the second half of the 18th century.
In 1767 Parliament passed an Act extending the boundaries of the town. An architectural competition was won by a young architect, James Craig, with a simple grid design. There is no doubt that his system sets off classical architecture to its best advantage, and produces extensive and impressive views. This was influential in the subsequent development of American cities. In fairness we must acknowledge that the estuary winds do as a result have licence to destroy our umbrellas and blow off out hats!
The old and new towns of Edinburgh
The Nor' Loch, which used to separate the "Old Town", clustered around the castle rock from the port of Leith and the shores of the Firth of Forth, was filled in, and the "New Town" begins with Princes Street, now a bustling shopping area. Edinburgh's mediaeval history is thus geographically separated from its modern financial centre and the Georgian buildings associated with its expansion during the period of the Scottish enlightenment. The Scottish Parliament, reinstated in 1999 after an interval of almost 300 years, is located in the Old Town.
Craig's New Town design ended with Queen Street in the North, which like the southern border of Prince's Street was to have building on one side only, so as to preserve the beauty of the views. In practice the "Athens of the North" was growing so quickly that a further expansion was initiated as early as 1802, and it is to this second phase of New Town building that Edinburgh Academy (1824) belongs.
Around Edinburgh
Walking
Fifteen minutes walk to the north, passing on the way the celebrated Botanical Gardens, is the district of Trinity, fronting on to the Firth of Forth with its attractive yacht harbour and its view across the estuary to the kingdom of Fife. |
Doing business in Edinburgh
However the driving force of Edinburgh's economy is its burgeoning financial services sector, growing twice as fast as the UK average for this industry. The Royal Bank of Scotland (left) is the world's fifth largest bank, whilst Halifax Bank of Scotland is one of the largest in Europe. Edinburgh is home to 16 of Scotland's Top 100 companies |
The region
New tram services should be running by 2011. Since all utilities must be diverted from underneath the tram route before the tram tracks can be laid, this has resulted in some temporary road closures. However, Edinburgh also has the best bus service in Britain, outside of London, including an express bus link from Waverley Station to the airport. |
Employment
Around 34% of Edinburgh's population hold degree level qualifications making the city's workforce one of the most highly qualified in the UK. Established in 2004, the Edinburgh Science Triangle is a cutting-edge science and technology alliance of Scotland's leading Science Parks. A proposed Arts Hub could incorporate a number of our publicly supported, independent contemporary art galleries. |
Sir Walter Scott
A prolific writer of historical romances he wrote 23 books, including "The Waverley Novels." Edinburgh's main station is named after this. Edinburgh now has more booksellers per capita than any other city in Britain and, in 2004, was the first city in the world to be named City of Literature by UNESCO. |
Cosmopolitan city In August 2000, the first Commonwealth Youth Games were held in Edinburgh. The famous annual Edinburgh Festival draws visitors from all over the world. |
Fifteen minutes walk to the south from the Academy takes you to Princes Street, passing on the way some of the finest of New Town architecture. Another five minutes in the same direction will lead the visitor to the Old Town, and the Royal Mile which stretches between Holyrood Palace and the Castle. The series of panoramas displayed above are views of the city from the towering height of "Arthur's Seat". It is said that looking down on this view inspired Henry Cockburn and Leonard Horner to found our school. 
The city of Edinburgh attracts 24% of all the money spent on tourism in Scotland and 20% of tourism employment. The world famous summer arts festival is a £135 million industry, regularly making use of Academy facilities during the summer vacation. .jpg)
Lothian region is home to 1.5 million residents, well over a quarter of the Scottish population, and the city of Edinburgh draws commuters from further afield, including Fife, Stirlingshire and the Borders. A map for rail commuters is shown 
Unemployment in Edinburgh is stable at around 2%, with vacancies comfortably outnumbering job seekers. It has been consistently and significantly below the Scottish average for several years. 
No-one has contributed more to bringing to life the history of Scotland than our founding director Sir Walter Scott..jpg)
24% of Edinburgh residents were born elsewhere, making the city very cosmopolitan. The Academy's student population is also drawn from a wide range of countries.TThis page is: Edinburgh Academy/ information / edinburgh /index.htm
