[1] The college occupied the grounds of the former Kirk o' Field collegiate church, bounded on the south by the Flodden Wall, and on the north by Jamaica Street, about midway down the slope to the Cowgate.

[2][3] The Principal of the University William Robertson warned of dilapidation and overcrowding, a pamphlet of 1768 called unsuccessfully for subscriptions to build new teaching-rooms and houses.

[8][9] The South Bridge Act 1785 was passed in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 21 April 1785 and in 1789 taxes were raised to fund a new University building in Edinburgh to a plan prepared by Robert Adam.

The "theatre for dissections", built around 1760 to the east of the library for Professor of Anatomy Alexander Monro (secundus), had been demolished for the bridge.

On 31 March 1790 Monro laid the foundation stone for his new Anatomical Theatre at the north west corner of the building, it came into use in October 1792.

The Roman Doric columns of the portico at the South Bridge entrance were erected, but funds ran out, and by 1793 all work had stopped.

[21] The large bronze war memorial at the west end of the quadrangle was designed by Sir Robert Lorimer in 1922 and sculpted by Pilkington Jackson the following year.

[23] The newly designed courtyard is both a venue for graduation celebrations and festival events, as well as providing a more inviting entrance for the various Old College facilities.