It was one of the oldest hostelries in all of Scotland, and yet Edinburgh's romantically-named Castle O'Clouts suffered the indignity of being flattened for what would become a DIY chain car park.
Established in 1724 on land that had previously been open country, the three-storey house at 104 St Leonard's Street, was one of the oldest in the capital, witnessing everything from the final Jacobite Rebellion to the rise of Beatlemania.
In its early days, the Southside landmark is believed to have been called Hunters Hall, after its owner, a tailor burgess of Edinburgh named William Hunter. Close by, on the site of modern-day Preston Street, was the 'gibbet', named as such as a deterrent to any would-be criminals entering Edinburgh from the south.
