John Knox House

John Knox House stands on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh’s Old Town. Built from 1470, it is one of the few surviving medieval timber-framed buildings in the city. The house has a fine wooden gallery and hand-painted ceiling added in the 16th century. It passed through several owners, including Walter Reidpath, John Arres and Mariota Arres, before James Mosman inherited it. Mosman was a goldsmith who worked for Mary, Queen of Scots, and later for her supporters during the Lang Siege of Edinburgh Castle. The house became linked with John Knox in the 19th century when writers like Robert Chambers and Sir Daniel Wilson repeated a local tradition. Knox probably lived nearby in Warriston Close, but the building’s age made it a plausible home. The Free Church bought the house after the Disruption in 1843, and Lord Cockburn saved it from demolition in 1849. Today it forms part of the Scottish Storytelling Centre and houses a museum. Inside, visitors find rooms with restored 16th-century carvings discovered in 1849. The hand-painted ceiling and wooden gallery remain key features. Outside, the Netherbow Well from 1675 stands just beyond the door, once supplying drinking water to the neighbourhood. The house overlooks the Royal Mile, with Moubray House next door and Warriston Close a short walk uphill.