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![]() Tolbooth Tavern |
There cannot be a more imposing location anywhere for a pub than the location of the Tolbooth Tavern. The Tolbooth was the administrative focus, the tax-collection point, the council chamber, the court and the jail for the burgh of Canongate, which lay ouside Edinburgh at the time.
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Although the Tolbooth was built in 1591, the Tolbooth Tavern has occupied part of it since 1820. The whole Tolbooth was extensively restored in 1879 and the appearance it has today can be dated back to then.
![]() Interior from the Front |
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![]() Looking Towards the Front Door |
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![]() Rear of the Tolbooth Tavern |
From the outside the Tolbooth Tavern appears quite small. Internally it opens out and stretches right back through the body of the Tolbooth and into an area originally built as housing in about 1750. This rear part of the tavern tends to be used primarily for dining: and it is also here that you are most likey to feel the effects of the tavern's resident ghost, who excels in knocking things over. There is also a function room on the first floor.