As you walk down North Bridge (in Edinburgh) it’s hard to know where to look. On one side you look out over the station, the galleries and up to the Castle, whilst on the other there is Carlton Hill and a vista stretching down to the Forth. But if you keep your eyes forward you will see Wellington, his horse reared up, in pride of place in front of HM General Register House – the National Archives of Scotland.
Work started on General Register House (not to be confused with it’s counterpart – West Register House – along in Charlotte Square) in 1774, but was stopped with the building a mere shell in 1779. Work resumed again in 1785 but the building was not complete until the 1820s when it finally took up the role it was designed for. Today the building still holds the national records dating back over 400 years (before the Acts of The Union), and is one of the few national archives to be in its original purpose built building.
