Perfect Harmony

The Perfect Harmony campaign aims to bring together two of Scotland’s national treasures, St Mary’s Music School and the old Royal High School on Edinburgh’s Carlton Hill. We welcome your support to return one of the world's finest examples of Greek revival architecture, Thomas Hamilton's Royal High School, back to its original purpose as a school and the new home of St Mary's Music School.

In 2016, the Royal High School Preservation Trust’s plans received the planning consent of the City of Edinburgh Council. Unfortunately, the Trust is unable to proceed until the Scottish Government determines the two appeals lodged by developers who wish to turn the Old Royal High into a hotel, with substantial building on the historic site. The appeal process begins on 18 September 2018 and may take some months to reach a conclusion.  The hotel plans were refused planning permission twice by City of Edinburgh Council with a unanimous vote on the second occasion. There were more than 3,000 objections to the hotel development.

Edinburgh residents have shown their support for our plans. Our list of supporters includes a host of well-known public and musical figures, such as Alexander McCall Smith, Nicola Benedetti, Sir James MacMillan and St Mary’s Music School’s famous alumni Alexander Armstrong and Steven Osborne. If the Scottish Government rejects the hotel’s appeals, we are in the fortunate position, thanks to generous support from Dunard Fund, to take our plans forward immediately.