Edinburgh (Royal) High School is thought to have originated from a seminary for Holyrood Abbey founded in the twelfth century. This school was located in several buildings until 1578 when a new school building was constructed on the former site of Blackfriars Monastery, to the south of Cowgate. In 1734 Robert Adam attended school here from the age of six, the curriculum being taught entirely in Latin.

The increased number of pupils made the existing building redundant and in 1774, it was decided to demolish the school to make way for a new building on the same site. In 1776-77, the Adam office made designs for a new high school building which included two variant designs. These designs were not executed, and the contract was given to another architect, Alexander Laing, in 1777.

Literary references: A.T. Bolton, The Architecture of Robert and James Adam, 1922, Volume II, Index, p.11; D. King, The Complete Works of Robert & James Adam and Unbuilt Adam, 2001, Volume 2, p. 55; H. Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, fourth edition, 2008, p. 625; J. Fleming, Robert Adam and his circle, 1978, pp. 77-78

Louisa Catt, 2023