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The Town Below the Ground: Edinburgh's Legendary Underground City
Below Scotland's capital, hidden for almost two centuries, is a metropolis whose very existence was all but forgotten.
For almost 250 years, Edinburgh was surrounded by a giant defensive wall. Unable to expand the city's boundaries, the burgeoning population built over every inch of square space. And when there was no more room, they began to dig down . . .
Trapped in lives of poverty and crime, these subterranean dwellers existed in darkness and misery, ignored by the chroniclers of their time. It is only in the last few years that the shocking truth has begun to emerge about the sinister underground city.
For almost 250 years, Edinburgh was surrounded by a giant defensive wall. Unable to expand the city's boundaries, the burgeoning population built over every inch of square space. And when there was no more room, they began to dig down . . .
Trapped in lives of poverty and crime, these subterranean dwellers existed in darkness and misery, ignored by the chroniclers of their time. It is only in the last few years that the shocking truth has begun to emerge about the sinister underground city.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
43 people are currently reading
685 people want to read
About the author
Jan-Andrew Henderson
62 books36 followers‘One of the UK’s most promising writers’ - Edinburgh Evening News
‘One of the UK’s best talents’ - Lovereading.co.uk
‘Jan Henderson writes the kind of thrillers that make you miss your stop on the bus’
- Times Educational Supplement
‘A moving, funny and original writer’ - The Austin Chronicle
‘Jan Henderson has written some incredible books… One of my favourite authors’
- Sharon Rooney (My Mad Fat Diary. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. Barbie)
‘If there were more books like yours out there, maybe people would be reading more’
- Charlie Higson (Young James Bond and The Enemy series)
Jan-Andrew Henderson (J.A. Henderson) is the author of 40 children’s, teen, YA and adult fiction and non-fiction books - published in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and Europe by Oxford University Press, Collins, Hardcourt Press, Amberley Books, Oetinger Publishing, Mainstream Books, Black and White Publishers, Mlada Fontana, Black Hart and Floris Books. He has been shortlisted for sixteen literary awards in the UK and Australia and won the Doncaster Book Prize, The Aurealis Award and the Royal Mail Award - Britain’s biggest children’s book prize.
He runs The Green Light Literary Breakdown Service - specialising in developmental and copy editing, is a professional member of the Institute of Professional Editors and teaches online writing courses for the Romance Writers of Australia Academy, Infostack, Skill Bundles and Authors Crib. He has appeared at numerous writers festivals and gives talks and given workshops for children and adults in conjunction with Literature Live, Authors Abroad, Nexus Arts and Speakers Ink.
Other roles include industry assessor and mentor for the Queensland Writers Centre, mentor for the Horror Writers Association, Secretary for the Romance Writers of Australia, ambassador for Australia Reads, peer/grant assessor for the Australian Council for The Arts, convenor for the Aurealis Awards, judge for the Bram Stoker Awards and the Robert N Stephenson Prize. He has been Writer in Residence for organisations as disparate as Ipswich Kindergarten and The Catholic School, Townsville.
He features in many anthologies, as a contributor and editor and has written several plays - performed as far apart as New York State, Texas, Leeds and the Edinburgh International Festival.
He is also the founder of Black Hart Entertainment which runs the famous City of the Dead Ghost Tours in Edinburgh.
‘One of the UK’s best talents’ - Lovereading.co.uk
‘Jan Henderson writes the kind of thrillers that make you miss your stop on the bus’
- Times Educational Supplement
‘A moving, funny and original writer’ - The Austin Chronicle
‘Jan Henderson has written some incredible books… One of my favourite authors’
- Sharon Rooney (My Mad Fat Diary. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. Barbie)
‘If there were more books like yours out there, maybe people would be reading more’
- Charlie Higson (Young James Bond and The Enemy series)
Jan-Andrew Henderson (J.A. Henderson) is the author of 40 children’s, teen, YA and adult fiction and non-fiction books - published in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and Europe by Oxford University Press, Collins, Hardcourt Press, Amberley Books, Oetinger Publishing, Mainstream Books, Black and White Publishers, Mlada Fontana, Black Hart and Floris Books. He has been shortlisted for sixteen literary awards in the UK and Australia and won the Doncaster Book Prize, The Aurealis Award and the Royal Mail Award - Britain’s biggest children’s book prize.
He runs The Green Light Literary Breakdown Service - specialising in developmental and copy editing, is a professional member of the Institute of Professional Editors and teaches online writing courses for the Romance Writers of Australia Academy, Infostack, Skill Bundles and Authors Crib. He has appeared at numerous writers festivals and gives talks and given workshops for children and adults in conjunction with Literature Live, Authors Abroad, Nexus Arts and Speakers Ink.
Other roles include industry assessor and mentor for the Queensland Writers Centre, mentor for the Horror Writers Association, Secretary for the Romance Writers of Australia, ambassador for Australia Reads, peer/grant assessor for the Australian Council for The Arts, convenor for the Aurealis Awards, judge for the Bram Stoker Awards and the Robert N Stephenson Prize. He has been Writer in Residence for organisations as disparate as Ipswich Kindergarten and The Catholic School, Townsville.
He features in many anthologies, as a contributor and editor and has written several plays - performed as far apart as New York State, Texas, Leeds and the Edinburgh International Festival.
He is also the founder of Black Hart Entertainment which runs the famous City of the Dead Ghost Tours in Edinburgh.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews
July 13, 2013
Good book to read if you want a job as a guide on one of the tacky tourist trap tours in Edinburgh Old Town. The other requirement would be to get dressed up in a vaguely historical costume that combines dubiously anomolous elements with all the sartorial elegance of curtain material. Talking of material, this little book will give you all you need to produce a suitable frisson with the punters. Lots of easily digestible history in Part 1, lots of really silly ghost stories in Part 2. Does anyone take this stuff seriously? Thank goodness Jan-Andrew doesn't.
Scotland on Sunday calls this spine chilling. There's blurb for you. I call it stoopid.
I have serious doubts about putting it on my non-fiction shelf. But then it is not a novel. Creative non-fiction, is that a genre? Oh yes, so it is. Hybrid.
Scotland on Sunday calls this spine chilling. There's blurb for you. I call it stoopid.
I have serious doubts about putting it on my non-fiction shelf. But then it is not a novel. Creative non-fiction, is that a genre? Oh yes, so it is. Hybrid.
March 6, 2014
Another one-penny-wonder in sooper-dooper condition; I am being spoilt.
Do you remember that bit in Edinburgh Picturesque Notes where the piper on chanter hikes underground middens whilst being tracked on ground level, then *gasp* the music stops dead and the piper is never seen again? Well that is what prompted me to look a little further into the subject. My interest was already piqued with one of the Rebus novels by Ian Rankin, and as many times as I have been to the Scottish capital I have not been ::Down:There::
Opening lines of the Introduction: Some people believe there is a city under the pavements of Edinburgh: a dark, mysterious, forgotten place. They say it is a metropolis - that miles of streets and houses exist down there - banished forever from the light. Others claim there is no underground city - that the town below the ground isn't real. It is a fairy-tale, no more than legend. The truth, in fact, is somewhere in-between.
There is an underground city; it is a near-mythical place but it does exist. And you can find it - if you know where to look.
Okay, looks like this read will be hoisted with hyperbole and I can live with that if the content is intriguing enough.
This would be a fun book to have with you when visiting the city - a tour here and a whisky chaser, a tour there and a whisky chaser, so by the time one gets to the McKenzie Poltergeist chapter just before entering Greyfriars Churchyard you are ripe for a heart attack at the slightest change in air current.
Do you remember that bit in Edinburgh Picturesque Notes where the piper on chanter hikes underground middens whilst being tracked on ground level, then *gasp* the music stops dead and the piper is never seen again? Well that is what prompted me to look a little further into the subject. My interest was already piqued with one of the Rebus novels by Ian Rankin, and as many times as I have been to the Scottish capital I have not been ::Down:There::
Opening lines of the Introduction: Some people believe there is a city under the pavements of Edinburgh: a dark, mysterious, forgotten place. They say it is a metropolis - that miles of streets and houses exist down there - banished forever from the light. Others claim there is no underground city - that the town below the ground isn't real. It is a fairy-tale, no more than legend. The truth, in fact, is somewhere in-between.
There is an underground city; it is a near-mythical place but it does exist. And you can find it - if you know where to look.
Okay, looks like this read will be hoisted with hyperbole and I can live with that if the content is intriguing enough.
This would be a fun book to have with you when visiting the city - a tour here and a whisky chaser, a tour there and a whisky chaser, so by the time one gets to the McKenzie Poltergeist chapter just before entering Greyfriars Churchyard you are ripe for a heart attack at the slightest change in air current.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 20, 2008
I read this book after I visited Edinburgh where I did tour part of the Underground city. The book includes a good dose of history as well as good stories, some of which would have made me think twice before I visited the Underground City.
August 31, 2013
No real research and over 1/2 the book is just a load of ghost stories. Enough random bits of history to pique the interest and send me searching for something a little more scholarly.
August 14, 2019
A fabulous read about Edinburgh and its many dark streets and hidden underground settlements. The illustrations are beautiful, too and I would recommend this well written and informative read for anyone visiting this gorgeous Scottish city!
February 21, 2012
I came across this book in the Camera Obscura souverir shop during my trip to Edinburgh. As I had already done the Vault tour twice and had always been impressed by Ediburgh's Underground City, I decided to buy it, but was totally disappointed.
The first part of the book gives vague historic information concerning the city, and how the underground city developed through the years. However I felt I was not reading a historical approach of it, but rather a subjective approach on the matter based on what the writer has heard and the rumours about the underground city that really abound.
The second part was a bad collection of stories that had to do with the underground city. While reading them, I wondered what certain stories had to do with it, or why the writer should label them as "ghost stories"- they had nothing to do with it. Henderson has no talent in writing whatsoever, maybe he should have sticked to the first part. Ghost stories just aren't for everyone.
The first part of the book gives vague historic information concerning the city, and how the underground city developed through the years. However I felt I was not reading a historical approach of it, but rather a subjective approach on the matter based on what the writer has heard and the rumours about the underground city that really abound.
The second part was a bad collection of stories that had to do with the underground city. While reading them, I wondered what certain stories had to do with it, or why the writer should label them as "ghost stories"- they had nothing to do with it. Henderson has no talent in writing whatsoever, maybe he should have sticked to the first part. Ghost stories just aren't for everyone.
July 10, 2010
Maybe it was because I was fresh off my trip from Scotland, but I read this book in one sitting. I did the Mary King's Close tour as well as the South Bridge vaults ghost tour, so I thoroughly enjoyed the chapters on the history of those two areas. I also appreciated a description of the bridges in Edinburgh, helped answer my question of 'hm, just HOW is this a bridge I'm walking on right now??" I docked the fifth star because I wish the book included more description of how the close and vaults look today - it just doesn't capture the eeriness of actually walking through underground Edinburgh.
April 28, 2011
Somewhat breathless in its tone, it's nonetheless an interesting survey of the "underground city" rumored to exist below Edinburgh's surface streets. There's not quite enough detail on construction, not enough old maps and drawings to show how this subterranean world came to be, but enough is there to horrify a modern reader about the living conditions that thousands of Edinburgh's residents endured.
The ghost stories at the end are fun. It's not difficult to creep me out, so I'm glad that I finished the book in daylight. :) But now I really want to take one of the ghost tours in Edinburgh!
The ghost stories at the end are fun. It's not difficult to creep me out, so I'm glad that I finished the book in daylight. :) But now I really want to take one of the ghost tours in Edinburgh!
June 4, 2013
I picked this up while in Edinburgh on vacation. The historical information about Old Town and the Underground was great but the second half of this book with all the hokey ghost stories was really not worth reading. That being said, I did learn a little about the history in the first half of this book and it was a very fast read that I read before taking an equally hokey "ghost tour" in the Underground that I wished had contained more historical information and less cheesy, not scary at all ghost stories. This book filled in the gaps about the missing history on the tour.
August 11, 2021
This is a fascinating account of Edinburgh's hidden city & a relatively quick read.
The book is in two parts....
...part one being a factual account of the history of Edinburgh, how the underground city came to be & of living conditions in it. Factual it may be but it isn't told in a dry way & is readable, interesting & entertaining - in particular I found this passage - about how the Scots with their traditional pikes were defending the city against the English with their new weapon the halberd - amusingly descriptive:
"One chop with a halberd and the Scots found their fifteen-foot pikes were seven-foot pikes then four-foot pikes. Eventually they were fighting with toothpicks".
What I found most shocking about this section applied to not just Edinburgh but the country in general & that was the cruel & barbaric treatment of children as chimney sweeps - shocking doesn't cover it!
Part two relates some of the ghost stories related to the underground city, from "The Mackenzie Poltergeist" to the rather tongue-in-cheek "The Foreman", they are a nice spooky selection & have had increased my desire to visit this beautiful city - although whether I'll dare venture into the Haunted Vault is another matter....
Overall it's a really good read that doesn't recount the ghost stories in a monotonous or repetitive way, neither does it over embellish them as so many others that I've read have done. I feel it's a shame this issue wasn't updated after it's original publication, however I'll check it out on line to see if there any updates on what ghostly goings on have been happening more recently.
The book is in two parts....
...part one being a factual account of the history of Edinburgh, how the underground city came to be & of living conditions in it. Factual it may be but it isn't told in a dry way & is readable, interesting & entertaining - in particular I found this passage - about how the Scots with their traditional pikes were defending the city against the English with their new weapon the halberd - amusingly descriptive:
"One chop with a halberd and the Scots found their fifteen-foot pikes were seven-foot pikes then four-foot pikes. Eventually they were fighting with toothpicks".
What I found most shocking about this section applied to not just Edinburgh but the country in general & that was the cruel & barbaric treatment of children as chimney sweeps - shocking doesn't cover it!
Part two relates some of the ghost stories related to the underground city, from "The Mackenzie Poltergeist" to the rather tongue-in-cheek "The Foreman", they are a nice spooky selection & have had increased my desire to visit this beautiful city - although whether I'll dare venture into the Haunted Vault is another matter....
Overall it's a really good read that doesn't recount the ghost stories in a monotonous or repetitive way, neither does it over embellish them as so many others that I've read have done. I feel it's a shame this issue wasn't updated after it's original publication, however I'll check it out on line to see if there any updates on what ghostly goings on have been happening more recently.
April 19, 2015
Whoever did the marketing for this book deserved their wages because this book is aimed at so many different types of reader, that it inevitably fails to fulfill these expectations. I bought the book with the intention of reading a serious, but accessible historical analysis of the urban experience of Edinburgh but this was only addressed very scantily in the first half of the text with unsubstantiated claims often filling the pages. The entire second half along with the appendix is ultimately there to sell tourists the idea that the old town is haunted by paranormal activity. This is substantiated by claims in the appendices such as, "A visiting psychic announces a 'friendly presence' in one particular vault", that supposedly happened in January of 1996. These claims are not only on the face of it utterly absurd and frustrating to read, they inform the entire delivery of the text. The text bemoans early on that citizens of Edinburgh have little to no knowledge of the city's history. The book then proceeds to fill this supposed gap with tall tales and mythological stories which is sold as genuine historical analysis.
The book serves as a sophisticated advertisement in reinforcing an already held belief that the old town due to its association with poverty and squalor, is the site of apparitions. Reading the second half made me wince and immediately begin to question the entire first half, which made some interesting statements here and there. The book in short is an utter disgrace. I used it as a football in the end.
The book serves as a sophisticated advertisement in reinforcing an already held belief that the old town due to its association with poverty and squalor, is the site of apparitions. Reading the second half made me wince and immediately begin to question the entire first half, which made some interesting statements here and there. The book in short is an utter disgrace. I used it as a football in the end.
January 13, 2024
I loved how this book started with the first half giving us the history of the underground city… the lives that were lived and lost, the architecture of the multi level spaces. It gives a good sense of the area and having visited Edinburgh I could picture it all. The second half goes into the paranormal stories and experiences in the vaults and areas. I love a good ghost story and these were just nice short but well written recollections that make me absolutely want to go back.
January 31, 2016
A fun short read. The first half of the book covers the history of Edinburgh in general and the underground areas specifically. The second half of the book covers various reported hauntings and paranormal experiences reported in the underground areas, most within the past few decades. Not entirely sure how much I believe any of these reports, but they're a fun spooky read regardless.
June 4, 2010
Brief history of the Old Town of Edinburgh, concentrating on the underground city and the legends that surround it. It's interesting stuff but I don't think it would be for anybody not familiar with Edinburgh.
September 2, 2013
Really enjoyed this. Excellent history background and unbiased opinions on the ghostly goings on of old Edinburgh. The legends and ghost stories at the back was a very nice touch, giving you more insight into the stories mentioned through the narrative.
February 4, 2013
Barely history. Fills an hour with some scant facts and information. All feels so light and fluffy - you feel like you can't even believe the facts.
December 4, 2021
4'5/5
Who wants to become a paranormal scientist? Me.
Who wants to read every single book about paranormal activity in Edinburgh? Me.
Who thinks Edinburgh is the most interesting city in the world? Me.
If you've been to Edinburgh and loved it, go read this book. If you want to go one day, read it. If you are remotely interested in Edinburgh, read it. If you're a human being, read it.
Who wants to become a paranormal scientist? Me.
Who wants to read every single book about paranormal activity in Edinburgh? Me.
Who thinks Edinburgh is the most interesting city in the world? Me.
If you've been to Edinburgh and loved it, go read this book. If you want to go one day, read it. If you are remotely interested in Edinburgh, read it. If you're a human being, read it.
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June 10, 2025Very interesting to learn about a city I fell in love with.
July 26, 2023
Fascinating- makes me want to go into the town and investigate the places mentioned. Except the places with reported hauntings. I’ll give those wide berth.
May 10, 2013
Pretty damn good!
Jan-Andrew Henderson is a good writer although in parts the book did contradict itself and the parts about Real Mary King's Close are totally at odds with what the tour guides tell you (including the ghost of the little girl whose name has mysteriously changed from "Sarah" to "Annie") and also the ghost in the South Bridge Vaults known as "The Watcher" - when I ventured into the South Bridge Vaults in 2012, I was informed that "The Watcher" was the evil spirit that haunts them and not the MacKenzie Poltergeist ..... but nonetheless - you can forgive Jan-Andrew Henderson as this book was published years ago when not much was known (or revealed maybe) about Real Mary King's Close and his stuff does match up with "old" accounts - nothing detracts from the fact that he has a real talent in writing and I actually really enjoyed this book and read it in one fell swoop! I couldn't put it down and what made me enjoy it even more is the fact that I used to live in Edinburgh part-time on the Pleasence (near the Worlds End pub) and always wondered what those brass plaques in the cobbles were (now I know that they mark the old gateway of the Flodden Wall that was known as "Worlds End" as people were afraid to venture out of the safety of the city wall) and because I recognise and know a lot of the places mentioned in this book and can easily visualise them (especially seeing as I last visited my beloved Edinburgh in December)it made it a much more interesting experience for me and I managed to absorb a lot more of what Jan-Andrew Henderson was saying (I also found an old drawing in the book of the building where my aunty actually lives today, which made me enjoy the book even more).
I definitely recommend this book and it's one that shall have a place on my bookshelves for the rest of my life and will occasionally be taken down to be re-read.
Jan-Andrew Henderson is a good writer although in parts the book did contradict itself and the parts about Real Mary King's Close are totally at odds with what the tour guides tell you (including the ghost of the little girl whose name has mysteriously changed from "Sarah" to "Annie") and also the ghost in the South Bridge Vaults known as "The Watcher" - when I ventured into the South Bridge Vaults in 2012, I was informed that "The Watcher" was the evil spirit that haunts them and not the MacKenzie Poltergeist ..... but nonetheless - you can forgive Jan-Andrew Henderson as this book was published years ago when not much was known (or revealed maybe) about Real Mary King's Close and his stuff does match up with "old" accounts - nothing detracts from the fact that he has a real talent in writing and I actually really enjoyed this book and read it in one fell swoop! I couldn't put it down and what made me enjoy it even more is the fact that I used to live in Edinburgh part-time on the Pleasence (near the Worlds End pub) and always wondered what those brass plaques in the cobbles were (now I know that they mark the old gateway of the Flodden Wall that was known as "Worlds End" as people were afraid to venture out of the safety of the city wall) and because I recognise and know a lot of the places mentioned in this book and can easily visualise them (especially seeing as I last visited my beloved Edinburgh in December)it made it a much more interesting experience for me and I managed to absorb a lot more of what Jan-Andrew Henderson was saying (I also found an old drawing in the book of the building where my aunty actually lives today, which made me enjoy the book even more).
I definitely recommend this book and it's one that shall have a place on my bookshelves for the rest of my life and will occasionally be taken down to be re-read.
May 30, 2017
A friend lent me this book shortly after I moved to Edinburgh. It’s a quick, fairly superficial history of the subterranean parts of the Old City, with a series of ghost stories at the end. The latter were all quite familiar, as I heard them when I went on one of the underground ghost tours last year. The vaults are certainly well worth a visit, although I didn’t experience anything supernatural and was far more interested in the social history of the place. As for the book, it was interesting to learn when and how the massive bridges that imperceptibly underpin so much of the city were built. And always nice to hear more about William Topaz McGonagall, perhaps the worst poet that ever lived. (I remember him from Curing Hiccups with Small Fires: A Delightful Miscellany of Great British Eccentrics.) This isn’t a particularly systematic history of Edinburgh as a city, but was clearly written with love, is easy to read, and includes a good selection of illustrations.
June 15, 2017
This is the perfect book for anyone planning a trip to Edinburgh or has been there recently. It gives you a broad overview of the history of the city through a discussion of how the geography influenced the way it was built. You will get an orientation to the layout of the old town and have some interesting anecdotes about key locations such as the castle, Mary King's Close and Greyfriar's Kirkyard. By all means take a tour or two of the underground. Go on a ghost walk. Explore one of the many staircases. Savor the beautiful city of Edinburgh. If you are intrigued dig deeper and read more history, read more literature. The book was well written and fast paced. I purchased the paperback in the gift shop of The Real Mary's Close and was not able to read it until I get home. I plan to put it on my kindle the next time I go to Edinburgh so I can use it for reference.
February 20, 2010
Book # 4 of 2010 - This was fun. So fascinating to learn the history of this city, the population exploding while the footprint is trapped within walls. Horrifying to think of the conditions that the majority of the citizens lived in in Victorian times. Super cool to hear about the ghosts. I am a fan of books that delve into people who live in "forgotten spaces" and this is a great part of the list.
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November 18, 2017I read about half of this and found it not very interesting. Partly because I do not know the lay out of Edinburgh so had no idea of the location of all these below ground places. There were drawings but that didn't help.
I'm sure it would have been more interesting had I been more familiar with the area.
I'm sure it would have been more interesting had I been more familiar with the area.
December 8, 2011
A most interesting book . I have visited Mary Kings Close and found the whole thing fascinating . I would love to see a novel written featuring characters of the time . It would be really good if written well .
January 11, 2012
An entertaining look at the so-called underground city, heard most of it before on tours in Edinburgh, but interesting nonetheless. Unconvinced of the accuracy of the history provided, and sceptical of the haunted side of things, but for a light read it was good.
June 15, 2013
Blah. Author can't decide if his target audience lives in Edinburgh or is planning a trip there. Two bridges and five of the seven hills are mentioned but without locations given, on the other hand there is a lot about the ghost tours.
September 25, 2015
Easy read which amalgamates most well known stories from under Edinburgh streets. No references and some should be taken with a pinch of salt.
December 12, 2012
A fascinating account of Edinburgh's early history. How the protective wall and overcrowding forced them to build tall tenements and create cellars below the ground.
April 30, 2013
Some outdated info but really worth a read!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews