Cannonball in the building

Cannonball House is a 17th-century building located on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland, just next to the entrance to the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. It was built in 1630 for Alexander Mure, a furrier and leather merchant, and takes its name from a cannonball lodged in its west wall. The building has been protected as a Category A listed building by Historic Environment Scotland since 1970.

The history of Cannonball House is rich — after a period of neglect in the late 17th century it underwent renovation, and further alterations were made in the mid-19th century. In 1913 the building was thoroughly renovated by architect John Carfrae for the nearby Castlehill School. From 1947 to 2013 it served as a meeting place for guides organising Royal Mile tours as part of the Edinburgh International Festival. Since 2014 it has housed a restaurant offering Scottish cuisine and views of the castle.

As for the cannonball, there are two theories (the official one and one of my own) about its origin. One says it was fired from the castle during the Jacobite rising of 1745 by the forces of General Preston. The second, more likely, suggests it was placed deliberately as a marker of the gravity head for Edinburgh's first water supply system, supplying the nearby Castlehill reservoir with water from the Comiston hills. My personal theory is simply that someone embedded it there as a joke. To the right of the cannonball you can see what looks like a second one, but already damaged.

The building has two main storeys, a half-basement and an attic, and its Castlehill-facing façade is distinguished by three gables and wooden doors reached by short stone steps. Above one of the windows is the inscription "AM MN 1630", representing the initials of Alexander Mure, his wife Margaret Niellems, and the year of construction and their marriage. If you're in Edinburgh, it's worth taking a look at this historic building — it's a true gem of the Royal Mile!