By the 16th century, this "yard", which was then a series of open courtyards within the Palace of Whitehall, was fronted by buildings used by diplomatic representatives of the Kingdom of Scotland.

Scotland Yard was certainly built and so-named by 1515, as Henry VIII's sister, Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots, was lodged there.

The architects Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren lived there, as did the poet John Milton from 1649 to 1651, during the Commonwealth of England under the rule of Oliver Cromwell.

Towards the end of the 17th century, the district was already associated with prominence and prestige; for example in the 1690s in his satirical A Tale of a Tub, Jonathan Swift claimed the regard of "my worthy brethren and friends at Will's Coffee-house, and Gresham College, and Warwick Lane, and Moorfields, and Scotland Yard, and Westminster Hall, and Guildhall; in short, to all inhabitants and retainers whatsoever, either in court, or church, or camp, or city, or country...".

[5] Richard Horwood's 1799 map of London shows Great Scotland Yard on the eastern side of Whitehall, opposite the Admiralty.

The archway was removed during the 1908 redevelopment of Great Scotland Yard, and the end of the building was refaced with slightly different coloured bricks.

It has a very long history as it sits on the previous site of the Ministry of Defence Library, but was built in 1906 as the Central London Recruiting Office.

[8] The last of the Scottish royal family who resided here was Margaret, Queen of Scots, wife of James IV of Scotland and sister to King Henry VIII.

Then, in 1873 the Metropolitan Police brought the stables from the Waterloo and Whitehall Railway company and built the Hackney Carriage and Detective Department in 1874.

The green doors have borne witness to many historic events and characters and have become a symbol and shorthand for Great Scotland Yard as part of the city of London's rich heritage.

On 30 May 1884, the Fenians exploded a bomb at the location, which blew a hole in the wall of Scotland Yard, and damaged the Rising Sun public house.