Mary King's Close

Underground streets and tourist attraction in Edinburgh

Mary King's Close is a historic close located under the Edinburgh City Chambers building on the Royal Mile, in the historic Old Town area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It took its name from one Mary King, a merchant burgess who resided on the Close in the 17th century.^[1]^[2] The close was partially demolished and buried due to the building of the Royal Exchange in the 18th century, and later closed to the public for many years. The area became shrouded in myths and urban legends; tales of hauntings and murders abounded.^[3]^[4]

The close is currently operated as a tourist attraction by Continuum Attractions.^[5]

Hauntings

Mary King's Close has had a reputation for hauntings since at least the 17th century, with several paranormal investigations taking place. It has been pointed out that this particular Close ran the nearest of any to the old Nor Loch, a stagnant and highly polluted marsh; biogas escaping into the close and creating eerie lights may have been the cause for these rumours of spirit hauntings.^[6] It is also said that the gas escaping into the closes was known to cause hallucinations.^[7]

Mary King's Close was featured on Series 4 of Most Haunted.^[8]
Featured in Haunted History's episode "Haunted Edinburgh"
Mary King's Close is the subject of episode 18 of the "How Haunted?" podcast.
A 2004 television adaptation of Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus novel Mortal Causes, the fourth episode in the first series of Rebus, featured a murder whose victim was found in Mary King's Close.^[9]
Mary King's Close appears on the Most Haunted Live Halloween 2006 show.
Annie's room and Mary King's Close both appear in Episode 6 of Billy Connolly's World Tour of Scotland.^[10]
Mary King's Close appears on the History Channel's 2007 program Cities of the Underworld Episode "Scotland's Sin City".
Mary King's Close was also featured on the Discovery Channel India show Discovery's Biggest Shows (aired at 8:00 pm Indian Standard Time on Sunday, 7 October 2007)
Mary King's Close was also featured in an episode of Ghost Hunters International which first aired in the U.S. on 9 January 2008 on the Sci Fi Channel and in the UK on 1 June 2008 on Living2.
Mary King's Close was featured on the Discovery Kids original series Mystery Hunters on the episode "King's Close and Winchester House".
Mary King's Close was featured on an episode of Lost World "Jekyl and Hyde" History International (2007).
Mary King's Close was used to test the low light capabilities of two digital compact system cameras in The Gadget Show (Season 17 Episode 9) aired in the UK on 7 January 2013 on Channel 5 (UK).

References in literature

Mary King's Close is the setting for the teen fiction novel Crow Boy written by Philip Caveney and published by Scottish-based publisher Fledgling Press in November 2012.^[11] Mary King's Close is a location in Teen Fiction Novel City of Ghosts by V.E. Schwab published by Scholastic on September 6, 2018. It is a location in Mortal Causes by Ian Rankin where a body is found.

References

^ "Mary King's Close". edinburgh.org. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
^ "About the Close". The Real Mary King's Close. Archived from the original on 2 April 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
^ "Mary King's Close". royal-mile.com. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
^ "Mary King's Close". BBC World Service. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
^ "The Real Mary King's Close". Real Mary Kings Close. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
^ "The Haunted Close". edinburgh.org. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
^ "THE NOR'LOCH". www.royal-mile.com.
^ "Most Haunted: Season 4, Episode 7, Mary King's Close". IMDb. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
^ "Rebus: Season 1, Episode 4, Mortal Causes". IMDb. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
^ "World Tour of Scotland". IMDb. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
^ "Crow Boy by Philip Caveney: Undiscovered Scotland Book Review". Undiscovered Scotland. Retrieved 19 December 2017.