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The Cowgate (Scots language: The Cougait) is a street in Edinburgh, Scotland, located about southeast of Edinburgh Castle, within the city's World Heritage Site. The street is part of the lower level of Edinburgh's Old Town, which lies below the elevated streets of South Bridge and George IV Bridge. It meets the Grassmarket at Cowgatehead at its west end and Holyrood Road to the east.
The street's name is recorded from 1428, in various spellings, as Cowgate and in 1498 as Via Vaccarum. It is derived from the medieval practice of herding cattle down the street on market days; a number of other streets in the old town of Edinburgh (such as Grassmarket and Lawnmarket) also reflect their market roots. Gate is a Scots language word for "way" or "road", a cognate of similar words in other Germanic languages (compare with gait).
Cowgate Port, a gatehouse in the city wall, was erected in 1516 and stood at the junction with St Mary’s Wynd. Describing the street in the 1581 edition of their atlas of major cities Civitates orbis terrarum, Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg said the Cow Gate was where "...the noble families and city councillors have their residences, together with other princely houses and palaces most handsome to behold."
Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed for a time in 1566 in a Cowgate house where the Court of the Exchequer met. The Exchequer Rolls mention that she and her nobles were provided with wine, bread, beer, meat fish, spices, pewter, and napkins. Exchequer Rolls, 19 (Edinburgh, 1898), pp. lviii, 395. After her abdication, her enemies and George Buchanan described her visits to the Earl of Bothwell in an adjacent house, facilitated by Margaret Beaton. George Buchanan, Ane Detectioun of the Duinges of Marie Quene of Scottes, (1571).R. H. Mahon, The indictment of Mary Queen of Scots (Cambridge, 1923), p. 35 Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1563–1569, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1900), p. 556 no. 902.
Between the mid 18th and mid 20th centuries the Cowgate was a poor, often overcrowded slum area. In the 19th century it was home to much of the city's Irish immigrant community and nicknamed "Little Ireland".
The University of Edinburgh School of Informatics on South Bridge was badly damaged; the school was a pioneer in the study of artificial intelligence in the 1950s and one of the world's most comprehensive archival libraries in this field was destroyed by the fire. Little current research data was lost in the fire due to offsite backups. In 2005 work began on a new building, the Informatics Forum, which was occupied mid-2008.
Also destroyed was the Gilded Balloon, a major venue for the Edinburgh Fringe, and offices for both the Gilded Balloon and Underbelly venues housed in an 1823 listed warehouse by Thomas Hamilton. The Gilded Balloon later moved to premises in Teviot Row House.
The site was temporarily used as a Fringe venue again when it became the C venues' Urban Garden during the 2007 Edinburgh Festival.
The owners and displaced tenants together with Edinburgh City appointed McGregor CS to act as lead to piece together the interests so that the site could be redeveloped. The site was then marketed widely and six developers were shortlisted. The gap site was then acquired by the property developer Whiteburn, who were granted planning permission in January 2009 to build a new mixed-use development using the site and existing adjacent buildings. Construction began in 2012 and was completed in late 2013. The main components of the development are a small Sainsbury's supermarket, a 259-bed Ibis Hotel, shops, restaurants, a nightclub and a vennel.
In 2016, protesters (including local homeless people) camped out in Cowgate to prevent the building of luxury hotel by Jansons Property. The protesters argued that the development might damage Edinburgh's UNESCO status, would displace homeless people, would remove a medical facility for the homeless and would block the natural light of the Edinburgh Central Library. MSP Andy Wightman offered his support to the campaign. Planning permission for the Virgin Hotels, which includes the India Buildings on Victoria Street and a facade on Cowgate, was granted in 2016. However, in 2018 councillors asked that developers use light coloured materials to reflect more light into the Central Library.
On 2 November 2024 a severed head was discovered in the Cowgate. The head is believed to be that of a 74 year old man who had been hit by a bus. Police were called around 7:25 PM, closed off the area, blocked the view of the scene from the South Bridge and evacuated the nearby pubs.
St Cecilia's Hall by Robert Mylne was built for the Musical Society of Edinburgh in 1763. It now houses a small Georgian concert space and an important collection of early keyboard instruments owned by Edinburgh University.
St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church stands at the east end of the Cowgate. It dates from 1772 but was extensively remodelled in 1929 following demolition of the tenements along the north side of the Cowgate which previously obscured its frontage.
The former Cowgatehead Free Church is located at the western end of Cowgate. It was built in 1861 in the Gothic style, and has an octagonal entrance tower. By 2000 it was no longer in use as a church, and was later incorporated as part of the Virgin Hotel.
Both the National Library of Scotland and the Edinburgh Central Library have their lower floors on the Cowgate, with public access being on George IV Bridge above.
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