Advocates Library

Edinburgh

Founded in 1689, the Advocates Library is widely regarded as the finest working law library in Scotland and one of the most distinguished in the British Isles. 

The Library is housed within Parliament House, beside the Court of Session and steps from St Giles' Cathedral on Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile. Its impressive main corridor, designed by renowned Scottish architect William Henry Playfair, was added in the mid-19th century and remains its defining feature.

The Advocates Library serves as the professional home of Scotland’s advocates, who use its collections and spaces to carry out research in support of their work promoting access to justice. As a working library, it is not usually open to the public—making Doors Open Day a rare and exciting opportunity to step inside.

Activities 

Guided 30-minute tours of the Advocates Library will run throughout the day, departing from Parliament Hall every half hour between 10:30am and 3:30pm. Each tour covers two floors of the Library and offers a rare glimpse into its historic spaces and collections. Tickets for the guided tours will be available in Parliament Hall on the day and will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Visitors can also explore small exhibitions featuring items from the Library’s collections, including one inspired by this year’s Doors Open Day theme: Heritage at Risk: Revive, Resist, Reimagine. Representatives from Abbotsford, Home of Sir Walter Scott, will also be on site to highlight the historic and ongoing connection between our libraries. We will have an exhibition highlighting the extensive behind-the-scenes conservation, research, and documentation work necessary to preserve our historic building and collections. On our tours, we will also highlight the ways in which we are ‘reimagining’ a nearly 500-year-old institution through discovering and sharing new and previously untold stories. 

An art scavenger hunt will also be available in Parliament Hall, inviting participants to engage with the Faculty’s collection of historic legal portraiture in a creative and thought-provoking way.  

Facilities

• Limited Access
• WC
• Events For Children

Additional Access Information

The majority of the tour spaces are wheelchair accessible, however one of our spaces (The Laigh Hall) is only accessible via a small flight of stairs. 

Toilet facilities are available in Parliament House but not on the Advocates Library tour route. 

All visitors to Parliament House and the Advocates Library must come through security checks at the entrance.