George Iv Bridge, Edinburgh is a Grade A listed building in the City of Edinburgh local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 14 December 1970. Bridge. 2 related planning applications.
George Iv Bridge, Edinburgh
- WRENN ID
- seventh-turret-bone
- Grade
- A
- Local Planning Authority
- City of Edinburgh
- Constituency
- Edinburgh East and Musselburgh MP: Chris Murray (Lab)
- Country
- Scotland
- Date first listed
- 14 December 1970
- Type
- Bridge
- Address
- George Iv Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EW
- OS grid reference
- NT 256 734
- Coordinates
- 55.94819, -3.19194
- Source
- Historic Environment Scotland listing
Description
The George IV Bridge in Edinburgh, designed by Thomas Hamilton and built between 1829 and 1834, is a multi-arched bridge supported by piers, which are built up on both sides. It carries a roadway and pavement that connects Bank Street to Forrest Road/Bristo Place. The bridge is constructed from ashlar stone and features visible spans at Cowgate and Merchant Street.
At Cowgate, there is a semicircular groin-vaulted arch resting on chamfered oblong piers, although the spaces between the piers are now blocked. This section includes moulded capitals and an arch, as well as a modillioned entablature. At Merchant Street, the bridge has a semieliptical tunnel arch with flanking segmental pavement arches.
The bridge is adorned with cast-iron railings featuring anthemion quartefoils, although the railings beside the National Library have been replaced by stone balusters.
Local climate
George Iv Bridge, 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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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 2 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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