Kirk o' Field
Old College, Edinburgh
In the early hours of 10 February 1567, a house at Kirk o' Field where Lord Darnley, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, was staying was destroyed by a huge gunpowder explosion. Darnley's body was found in the garden.
Read the full story, see it on the map, get directions and find what else is nearby in the free Hidden Britain Atlas map.
- When
- 10 February 1567
- Where
- 55.9470, -3.1870
- Group
- Plots
Visiting
The site is now the University of Edinburgh's Old College, on South Bridge.

Guy Fawkes: Traitor or Faithful?
This book asks one question and keeps asking it: was Guy Fawkes faithful, or a traitor? Most people think they already know. The answer has been handed down for four hundred years, with a bonfire and a rhyme, and it is rarely examined. From the boy from Stonegate in York to the cellar, the Tower and Westminster Hall, every chapter ends with a ledger of what it adds in his favour and what it adds against him. By the last page you may find that the answer you arrived with is not the one you leave with.
Nearby mysteries
- The MaidenExecution site · National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh · under a mile away
- The Edinburgh VaultsHaunted place · South Bridge, Edinburgh · under a mile away
- Greyfriars BobbyMysterious grave · Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh · under a mile away
- Greyfriars KirkyardHaunted place · Old Town, Edinburgh · under a mile away
- Mary King's CloseHaunted place · Royal Mile, Edinburgh · under a mile away
- The Heart of MidlothianExecution site · Royal Mile, Edinburgh · under a mile away