The Lost Close

Useful Information

Location:	1 Barrie’s Close, Edinburgh, EH1 1RF. (55.9493369, -3.1897606)
Open:	only after appointment. online booking recommended. [2026]
Fee:	Whisky Tasting GBP 40-95, Gin Tasting GBP 27, A Wee Dram GBP 20, Beer Tasting GBP 23. [2026]
Classification:	Cellar
Light:	Electric Light
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	The Lost Close, 1 Barrie’s Close, Edinburgh, EH1 1RF. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

15-NOV-1824	the Great Fire destroys many buildings and debris blocks the access to the closes.
2019	rediscovered during the renovation works of CoDE Hostels.

Description

The Lost Close is as the name say an underground which was lost for a long time. In the middle of Edinburgh, right beneath St. Giles Cathedral, at the Royal Mile, the cellars are today used for Whisky tasting. Actually there are whisky, gin, and craft beer tastings. All those tastings must be booked in advance, there is no ticket office on site, and there are no tours for the cellars. The meeting point for the tastings is at John’s Coffee House & Tavern at 1A Parliament Square. The cellars are not wheelchair accessible for obvious reasons.

This underground structure was called a "Close", and there were actually numerous of them in the city. Nearby Mary King’s Close is open to the public for decades now. They were underground extensions of the city which had houses, shops, pubs and much more, connected by a sort of underground road, which often was a long staircase. Old maps show Steil’s Close, Royal Bank Close and Hangman’s Close which are gone on newer maps. Its actually unclear which of these closes this one is, as the maps are not exact enough to keep them apart.

There was a fire in 1824 which is named the Great Fire, which took five days to extinguish. It reshaped the city as numerous houses were destroyed and subsequently rebuilt differently. Everything to the east, between the square and the Tron Kirk, was destroyed. The ruined buildings were leveled and so a new foundation of debris created, on which new buildings were erected. On this site this was the new police chambers. Constructed between 1830 and 1845, when the new courtroom was taken into use. This was a court for petty crimes, the more serious cases went to the High Court. The "jail cells" or "holding cells" in the cellar were used to lock up the defendants before and during the trial.

The police left this building in the 1980s, and it was converted to offices. CoDE Pod Hostels acquired the property and renovated it into a luxury pod hostel. During those renovation works, the entrance to the buried close was rediscovered in 2019. By the way, the CoDE Pod Hostels offer the historic rooms for rent, so you may book a night in the old courtroom or one of the jail cells.