Edinburgh's Assembly Rooms: 200 years of celebrities, from Dickens to Peter Kay

IT WAS in 1783 that the foundation stone was laid for a project to provide Edinburgh's aristocracy with a high-profile establishment in the New Town.

The Assembly Rooms building, designed by John Henderson and later his father, David, opened its doors in an incomplete state for the Caledonian Ball on 11 January, 1787.

Among the celebrated figures to have graced the venue over the years have been Seamus Heaney, Charles Dickens and Sir Walter Scott, who famously unmasked himself as the creator of the Waverley Novels there.

The first Edinburgh Music Festival was held in the Assembly Rooms' ballroom in 1815, King George IV visited in 1822, and its music hall opened in 1843.

The modern Assembly Rooms has played host to a galaxy of big names since being opened as a Fringe theatre 29 years ago and to this day still sells more tickets than any other venue. Among the stars to have appeared there as relative unknowns were Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, Peter Kay and Lenny Henry.

Outwith the Fringe, it is best-known for the ballroom ceilidh dances. But it is also used for everything from arts and craft fairs, auctions, book readings and beer festivals to the annual Scots Fiddle Festival and a gala ball at Hogmanay.