New Parliament House (often still referred to as the Old Royal High
School) lies in need of a new purpose having been controversially
spurned as the permanent debating chamber for the reconvened Scottish Parliament (created in 1999) in favour of a purpose-built new building in the Canongate. Widely regarded as the city's best Neo-Classical building, this A-listed
structure takes the form of a Greek temple and occupies a dramatic
location high above the Canongate. The Royal High School was built in 1829 by Thomas Hamilton (1784 - 1858) and is regarded as his finest work. There was great rivalry between this building and Burn's Edinburgh Academy in Inverleith, and Hamilton's
budget was augmented to ensure his was the grandest, yet the cost of
£24,000 seems a bargain, even then. It consists of a central block with
two small temples forming pavilions, all with grand porticos and linked
by colonnades. By the middle of the 20th Century the building had become
too small and was difficult to adapt to the needs of a modern school,
thus these premises were abandoned and a very ordinary new Royal High
School building in the Barnton district of the city was occupied in 1969. The High School was originally founded in 1128 making it one of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom.
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