Edinburgh Academy

The Edinburgh Academy stands on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, a quiet Edinburgh district. Its main building, designed by William Burn, shows a Greek Doric frontage in Craigleith stone. The school opened in 1824 after Henry Cockburn and Leonard Horner persuaded the City Council to approve the plan. The Junior School moved to Arboretum Road beside the Royal Botanic Garden in the 1960s. Over the years new blocks appeared: a Science Block in 1909, a Dining Hall with a Rifle Range in 1912, and a War Memorial Gymnasium after the First World War. The Academy is worth the journey for its long list of notable alumni. Robert Louis Stevenson and James Clerk Maxwell both studied here. The school has produced a Nobel Prize winner, nine Victoria Cross holders, and many leading figures in politics and law. According to the Sutton Trust it ranks second in Scotland for the number of influential people it has educated. The Academy also runs a Games Hall partly funded by lottery money for both pupils and the local community. Its science centre now bears the name of James Clerk Maxwell. Visitors find a campus of stone buildings arranged around playing fields. The Henderson Row frontage shows Burn’s classical style, while the Arboretum Road site holds modern classrooms and a nursery. A purpose-built Music School stands on the west side of the campus. The War Memorial Gymnasium still bears the names of former pupils who fell in the Great War. The Academy House, built in 1992, serves as the Rector’s residence.