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The pub’s story
Cloisters Bar opened in 1995 at 26 Brougham Street, the former All Saints Parsonage beside St Michael and All Saints Church. The building should not be mistaken for a Victorian pub. SPAB identifies the former parsonage as Sir Robert Rowand Anderson’s 1878 design, while Historic Environment Scotland’s Category A listing covers the wider church group, including the former parsonage. That group has a longer ecclesiastical history: the church began in 1866 and opened in 1867, with later work by Anderson. Cloisters is thus a modern pub conversion within a documented nineteenth-century setting. The operator says it retained traditional features and today promotes the stove, cask beer and malt whisky selection; CAMRA corroborates the former-parsonage identity and reports access constraints to the toilets. The appeal is in that honest overlap of Gothic domestic architecture, a 1995 pub opening and a present-day beer-and-whisky local.
What to notice
- 01
The category-A designation is for the wider St Michael and All Saints group, which includes the former parsonage; it is not evidence that the pub itself dates from the Victorian period.
- 02
The stove and prominent gantry are central to the present pub experience, alongside the operator’s cask, keg and malt selection.
- 03
CAMRA says the toilets are reached by a long, winding, steep metal staircase; this may not suit visitors with reduced mobility.
The time rail
The building, the pub and its interior may date from different periods. The timeline keeps documented dates separate from tradition.
Historic Environment Scotland records the congregation’s formation as a mission church of St John, Princes Street.
Construction of St Michael and All Saints Church began; this is group history, not pub history.
The church’s nave, aisles, transepts, chancel and St Michael’s Chapel opened.
Robert Rowand Anderson designed the church’s two-storey narthex, triforium and south-west turret.
SPAB identifies the adjacent former All Saints Parsonage, now Cloisters, as a Sir Robert Rowand Anderson design.
Historic Environment Scotland added the St Michael and All Saints group, including the former parsonage, to the statutory list at Category A.
Cloisters opened as a pub in the former All Saints Parsonage.
The operator publishes the current cask, keg and malt offer alongside weekly hours.
Sources & confidence
Historic Environment Scotland and SPAB supply the architectural identity, 1878 date and Rowand Anderson attribution of the parsonage group. Operator and CAMRA sources establish the 1995 pub conversion and current cask-and-whisky character. The profile explicitly separates church, parsonage and pub dates.
Research reviewed
- St Michael and All Saints Church group (LB27489)Historic Environment Scotlandheritage
SupportsCategory A group listing, church chronology and confirmation that the former parsonage at 26 Brougham Street is part of the group.
- Cloisters BarCloisters Barofficial
SupportsThe 1995 establishment date, former All Saints Parsonage identity, current drinks offer and published weekly hours.
- Cloisters Bar, EdinburghCAMRAspecialist
SupportsCurrent pub record, facilities, traditional features and access note for the toilet stair.
- Cloisters BarEdinburgh & South East Scotland CAMRAspecialist
SupportsLocal CAMRA account of the 1995 opening in the former parsonage, drinks range, events and access information.
- Historic Bar Tour – Cloisters, EdinburghSociety for the Protection of Ancient Buildingsspecialist
SupportsIndependent conservation body’s identification of the former parsonage as a 1878 design by Sir Rowand Anderson.
