Greyfriars Bobby

Greyfriars Bobby Statue and Greyfriars Kirk / Church can be found in the centre of Edinburgh, a short walk from the Royal Mile along the street named George IV Bridge. Free to visit.

The image top shows the street named George IV Bridge leading from St Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile to Greyfriars Kirk. Postcode: EH1 2QQ

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The Statue of Greyfriars Bobby is in front of the Greyfriars Bobby Bar / Diner with Greyfriars Kirk up the lane next to the Diner. The National Museum of Scotland is to the left in this image of the Statue.

At the entrance to Greyfriars Kirk you will see the Monument and Grave of Greyfriars Bobby.

The Grave of John Gray is down to the right from the Main Gate, a Red Granite Headstone.

John Gray was the owner of Bobby, a Skye Terrier he bought to keep him company at nights when working as a Night Watchman, with him dying of tuberculosis in 1858.

Bobby then spent 14 years guarding his Grave till he died himself in 1872, aged 18.

Books and Films have been based on this Dog, the novel Greyfriars Bobby in 1912 by Eleanor Atkinson, and films Greyfriars Bobby in 1961, and The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby in 2006.

The interior of Greyfriars Kirk is quite impressive, larger that it looks from the outside.

There is a small Museum in the Church that gives information on the History of the Church, Greyfriars Bobby, and a number of Graves in the Kirkyard that are claimed to have been used by JK Rowlin in the Harry Potter movies for names, such as Potter, Moodie, Scrymgeour, Cruikshanks, and McGonagall.

The Grave of Tom Riddle can also be found, said to have inspired the writing of JK Rowlin.

Rowlin was born in England in 1965, started writing about Harry Potter in 1990, moved to Portugal as a teacher in 1991, moved to Edinburgh with her daughter in 1993 after divorcing her Portuguese husband, her first Harry Potter book was released in 1997.

You get a better view of Greyfriars Kirk from the east side, showing just how large it is.

The Flodden Wall runs through Greyfriars Kirk, built after the Scots were defeated by the English at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. A time Scotland had joined France in war with England.

This wall was built as the Scots then expected a full on invasion by the English, but that never happened.

The English under the Tudor King Henry VIII did invade in 1544, burning much of the Old Town, a time Henry was trying to force the infant Mary Queen of Scots to Mary his Son to unite Scotland and England, also to stop Scotland helping France.

The Scots and English were involved in a number of small battles and attacks on each others ships for a number of years around that time, known as the Rough Wooing.

The English knew they could defeat Scotland in Battles with their much larger army, but could not keep control of Scotland, so they had to try and take control through Marriage.

In 1603, Queen Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII, died without leaving an Heir, leading to her Cousin, the Scottish Stuart King James VI, becoming King of Scotland, England and Ireland, ending the long running battles between England and Scotland.