West Bow Well, West Bow, Grassmarket, Edinburgh is a Grade A listed building in the City of Edinburgh local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 21 April 1969. Well.

West Bow Well, West Bow, Grassmarket, Edinburgh

WRENN ID
guardian-tallow-soot
Grade
A
Local Planning Authority
City of Edinburgh
Constituency
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh MP: Chris Murray (Lab)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
21 April 1969
Type
Well
OS grid reference
NT 255 734
Coordinates
55.948, -3.19448
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The West Bow Well, located in West Bow, Grassmarket, Edinburgh, was built in 1674 by Robert Mylne under the supervision of Sir William Bruce and was restored in 1861. It features a square-plan ashlar wellhead with a panelled swept stone roof that has gadrooning at the base and is topped with a swagged urn finial. To the east, there is a cast-iron door inscribed with the City Arms. The south side has a semicircular basin that is filled with concrete, while a smaller ornamental basin is located to the west. The north side displays a heraldic device, and there is notable carving by John Rhind.

Local climate

West Bow Well, West Bow, Grassmarket, Edinburgh sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 970 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 76% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 53% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 43 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 81% of listed buildings. Of these, 25 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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