Post by Chris O (Lazy Owl) on Aug 7, 2008 14:29:29 GMT -6
Far below the busy streets of modern Edinburgh lies a dark, forgotten corner of history. Discovered in the mid-1980’s, the Edinburgh Vaults had been abandoned for nearly two hundred years. Lying beneath the South Bridge, a major Edinburgh passage, the rooms were used as cellars, workshops and even as residences by the businesses that plied their trade on the busy bridge above.
The South Bridge has stood since 1785 and it was around this time that the huge supporting arches were first divided for use by nearby businesses. The vaults were once bustling with life, the vast overflow of an ever-growing city.
When the vaults became mostly abandoned because of the unwholesome atmosphere they were still used sporadically by the poor and homeless of Edinburgh society. As with any great concentration of unhealthy people, there were outbreaks of plague and other devastating illnesses; many of the people who took refuge in the vaults ultimately died there. There is evidence that at least some of these people may have met untimely ends because it was here in the Edinburgh Vaults that the nefarious pair, Burke and Hare, plied their trade of providing cadavers to the nearby teaching hospitals of Infirmary Street.
The South Bridge has stood since 1785 and it was around this time that the huge supporting arches were first divided for use by nearby businesses. The vaults were once bustling with life, the vast overflow of an ever-growing city.
When the vaults became mostly abandoned because of the unwholesome atmosphere they were still used sporadically by the poor and homeless of Edinburgh society. As with any great concentration of unhealthy people, there were outbreaks of plague and other devastating illnesses; many of the people who took refuge in the vaults ultimately died there. There is evidence that at least some of these people may have met untimely ends because it was here in the Edinburgh Vaults that the nefarious pair, Burke and Hare, plied their trade of providing cadavers to the nearby teaching hospitals of Infirmary Street.