The Real Mary King’s Close

The Real Mary King’s Close is a preserved section of Edinburgh’s Old Town hidden beneath the buildings of the Royal Mile. The close was originally an open-air street lined with multi-storey tenements, homes and businesses. It takes its name from Mary King, a merchant and seamstress who lived there during the 1630s. King was a widow with four children and became sufficiently prominent within the community for the close, previously known as Alexander King’s Close, to become associated with her name.

The close was inhabited during the severe plague outbreak that struck Edinburgh in 1645. Crowded housing, poor sanitation and the presence of rats and fleas contributed to the spread of disease throughout the Old Town, and residents of Mary King’s Close were among those affected. A persistent legend claims that plague victims were sealed inside the close and abandoned to die, but this is not supported by historical evidence. The street remained open to the sky during the epidemic and continued to be inhabited afterwards.

Mary King’s Close became enclosed during redevelopment in the 18th century. Construction of Edinburgh’s Royal Exchange began in 1753, and the upper floors of buildings along the close and neighbouring streets were demolished. Their lower sections were retained and incorporated beneath the new structure, preserving portions of the old streets, rooms and houses below what is now Edinburgh City Chambers. Some parts continued to be occupied for much longer, with sawmaker Andrew Chesney, one of the final residents, leaving in 1902.

The close is also associated with several ghost stories, the best known involving a young girl called Annie. The story became prominent after Japanese psychic Aiko Gibo visited the site in the 1990s while filming a television programme about supposedly haunted locations in Britain. Gibo claimed to sense the spirit of a young girl in one of the rooms who had been separated from her family and had lost her doll. She bought a doll and left it in the room, after which visitors began leaving dolls, toys and other gifts for Annie. The room subsequently became known as Annie’s Room. No historical evidence has confirmed the existence of a girl named Annie living in the room, and the story remains part of the site’s modern ghost folklore.

The site opened as a visitor attraction in 2003. Guided tours pass through surviving sections of the streets and buildings and cover everyday life in 17th-century Edinburgh, the plague, sanitation, occupations and the legends associated with the close. Mary King’s Close should not be confused with the Edinburgh Vaults beneath South Bridge, which were built later and form a separate underground complex.