CONCLUSION
And so, we come to the end of our tour.
Over the past ninety minutes or so we have stood in front of a fragment of a fifteenth century church commissioned by one of Scotland’s Queens. We have discussed the role of a sixteenth century merchant woman in completing the last roman catholic church to be built before the reformation but whose tombstone is hidden under an old carpet. We have stood in a Georgian square and talked about a woman who fought to save it, typed the invitations to her own campaign meetings, but unfortunately lost. And we have stood here, at this building, talking about a woman who ran an antiques shop, sat on a conservation council, and grabbed a clock from an auctioneer's desk in Cairo.
These are not obscure stories that should be relegated to a footnote. They were always here and what changes is whether we choose to make them a part of the main historical narrative of Edinburgh.
The Cockburn Association has spent 150 years protecting, preserving and promoting Edinburgh's built heritage, natural environment and civic amenity. That work is as urgent today as it has ever been. The association is currently watching closely over the proposed extension to Edinburgh's tramline, the revitalisation of Princes Street and plans to demolish the Brutalist Argyle House at the foot of the Castle Rock to make way for a new development.
Rowan Brown, the current Director, has described her vision in terms that I think speak directly to everything we have discussed on this tour: "I like the idea of finding new ways of using the built environment to support a changing society and changing demographic and changing needs. The best buildings are those that suit their inhabitants and their purpose well. The city is richer when communities are mixed, when there's a combination of generations and perspectives. One of the real beauties of Edinburgh is the juxtaposition of changing styles and periods of architecture. And that has got to continue. Or it stagnates." (1)
Lord Cockburn once wrote about what Edinburgh might look like in 2049. I want to borrow that impulse and look forward too. Over the next twenty-three years I hope that the stories we have discussed today, and the hundreds of others like them that are still waiting to be found, become part of the main fabric of how we understand this city. Not as footnotes or special interest topics but as history.
The Cockburn Association has been operating for just over 150 years and I really hope they continue for the next 150 years and beyond, for the importance of their work cannot be overstated.
If you would like to support the association, there is the option to become a member with prices ranging from £5 for students to £40 per year, the option to donate, or simply to buy their new book Campaigning for Edinburgh, which details the association's first 150 years. It is a wonderful book that also includes small biographies of some of the people who have worked with the association throughout its history, including lots about the women.
Thank you so much for walking with me today. I hope you leave with the habit of attention we spoke about at the beginning which is the willingness to pause in any historic space and ask: who else was here? Whose story has not been favoured? And why not?
The stories are there. We just have to keep looking.
Sources
1) Amos, Ilona, 'The Cockburn has a reputation for saying no, but honestly it's not deserved', The Edinburgh Inquirer, 6 January 2026. Available at: edinburghinquirer.co.uk/p/the-cockburn-has-a-reputation-for
Further Reading
Amos, Ilona, 'The Cockburn has a reputation for saying no, but honestly it's not deserved', The Edinburgh Inquirer, 6 January 2026. Available at: edinburghinquirer.co.uk/p/the-cockburn-has-a-reputation-for
Arthur, Andy, Queen of the High Street: the thread about the life and times of Esta Henry, Threadedinburgh, 15 January 2025, Available at: https://threadinburgh.scot/2025/01/15/the-thread-about-esta-henry-the-life-and-times-of-the-queen-of-the-high-street/
Delman, Rachel. ‘Mary of Guelders and the Architecture of Queenship in Fifteenth-Century Scotland’, Scottish Historical Review, vol. 102, no. 2, 2023, pp. 211–231.
Delman, Rachel, and Jill Harrison. ‘Reviving the Trinity: Making Mary of Guelders’ Fifteenth-Century Built Legacy Relevant in Twenty-First Century Scotland’, Royal Studies Journal, vol. 12, 2025.
Hague, Cliff, Richard Rodger, D. J. Johnston-Smith, and Terry Levinthal. Campaigning for Edinburgh: The Cockburn Association 1875–2049. Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, 2025.
Masson, Rosaline. Scotia’s Darling Seat 1875–1925. Edinburgh: Robert Grant, 1926.
Ross, Thomas, and G. Baldwin Brown. ‘The Magdalen Chapel, Cowgate, Edinburgh’, Book of the Old Edinburgh Club, Original Series, vol. 8, 1915, pp. 1–78.