UPDATE: Due to the impact of Covid-19, we have postponed our regular programme of in-person events.

See our city and its most famous buildings in a new way, and meet the experts that make all the difference. We host events for our members throughout the year, and you’ll find information on the latest one here.

Victorian Edinburgh was a melting pot of industry and people. New inventions created new work, attracting migrants searching for work and a better life. But while business owners watched their wealth grow, their underpaid and overworked employees lived in filthy, disease-ridden, overcrowded slums in the Old Town.

In 1865, Dr Henry Littlejohn – Police Surgeon, Crown witness in murder cases and medical advisor to the Scottish Poor Law authorities – published his Report on the Sanitary Condition of Edinburgh. His meticulous research produced penetrating insights into the links between poverty, employment and public health in Victorian cities. Described as ‘monumental’ in The Lancet, it had a significance far beyond the city of Edinburgh and Victorian society.

In our latest online event, Edinburgh World Heritage is delighted to welcome Richard Rodger, Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Edinburgh and co-author of ‘Insanitary City: Henry Littlejohn and the Condition of Edinburgh.’ Please join us as he explores the terrible slum conditions of Victorian Edinburgh and the extraordinary work of Dr Henry Littlejohn.

Details

• 6pm, Thursday 13 May 2021
• Zoom online

New member offer

New members will enjoy free entry to this event. Become a member today from just £25 and join us on 13 May at no extra cost. New members will be sent joining information separately on the day of the event. Become a member today.

Tickets on sale now via Eventbrite

UPDATE: This event has been postponed.

This year, our two summer walking tours will take in the youngest and oldest buildings in the city centre.

Ancient roots: Interested to discover more about the remaining traces of our city’s Medieval beginnings and Reformation era developments? Join us for this early evening promenade up the Royal Mile where we will learn about Edinburgh’s early cityscape and architecture.

Fresh shoots: Hidden amongst 17th and 18th century tenements and Georgian townhouses, Edinburgh’s Old and New Towns World Heritage Site contains a number of important contemporary architectural additions. This new tour will shed light on some of the most striking and interesting post-war buildings in our city.

Details TBC

Please join us for a fascinating evening as we explore the history of the World Heritage Site through the National Library of Scotland’s outstanding map collection, with Dr Christopher Fleet, Curator of Maps.

Tickets

Tickets are £4 for members and £8 for non-members.

New member offer

New members will enjoy free entry to this event. Become a member today from just £25 and join us on 28th January at no extra cost. New members will be sent joining information separately once your application has been received and processed – this can take up to 72 hours but links will always be sent in plenty of time for the event.

Tickets available now via Eventbrite.

Please join us for a celebration of the ‘heav’n-taught ploughman’ through poetry readings and a virtual guided tour of the places particularly associated with the bard from his time in the capital from 1786 to 1788.

Special guests include Scottish actors Derek Riddell (Shetland, No Angels), John Gordon Sinclair (Gregory’s Girl, Traces), Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (BA Actor) Neila Stephens, Twitter poetry sensation Miss Punny Pennie, and Dr Pauline Mackay, lecturer in Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow and and Associate Director at the Centre for Robert Burns Studies.

Tickets are £4 for members and £8 for non-members. Available now on Eventbrite.

New member offer

New members will enjoy free entry to this event. Become a member today from just £25 and join us on 28^th January at no extra cost. New members will be sent joining information separately.

Don’t suffer a blue Christmas, join Edinburgh World Heritage at home for the holidays with our special guests on Thursday 10th December. We’ll wish you a merry Christmas with mistletoe and wine through your screen (BYOB). Baby, it’s cold outside, so park yourself in front of the (virtual) fire and toast to a wonderful Christmastime with an evening of music, song, poetry and performance.

Whether you want a hippopotamus for Christmas or just your two front teeth, at Edinburgh World Heritage we’ll stop the cavalry to spend the evening in dulce jubilo with you.

Special guests include Alexander McCall Smith in the role of Mr. Charles Dickens, as well as soloists from St Mary’s Music School, and members of the choir of Old St Paul’s.

New member offer

New members will enjoy free entry to our Christmas event plus one free entry into our luxury raffle*. Become a member today from just £25 and join us on 10th December at no extra cost. New members will be sent joining information separately.

Tickets

Tickets are £5 for members and £10 for non-members and include entry to our luxury raffle*, drawn live on the night. Prizes include fine wines and spirits, paintings and an indulgent gift hamper.

Get tickets now.

*You may enter into the raffle as many times as you like by buying additional tickets to the event. Prize winners will be drawn by Edinburgh World Heritage. All decisions regarding prize winners are final. You will be contacted regarding the receipt of your prize via email within 5 working days of the raffle. You must respond to our email within 5 working days or we will choose another winner.