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Before you visit
Happening Here
The Sunday Quiz with Goose
The Antiquary · Stockbridge
19:00Free entry
The Sunday Quiz with Goose at The Antiquary.
Confirmed by The Antiquary. View source. Checked .
The pub’s story
The Antiquary is reached below street level on St Stephen Street. Low ceilings, stone, timber panelling and stained-glass lights give its connected rooms a close, deliberately traditional character. A university newspaper proves that the bar was trading here by 1985. The present operator says it began as a restaurant before becoming a pub and that a later refit used reclaimed gym flooring. The name is a direct tribute to Sir Walter Scott’s novel The Antiquary, not evidence that Scott drank here. The venue also reports that Festival and Book of Blood used the premises as a screen location, but no independent location record was found, so both claims remain clearly marked as venue-reported. Current CAMRA information supports one changing cask beer, Wednesday and Sunday quizzes and Thursday folk music. This is a story-led cellar bar, but the qualifications matter as much as the stories.
Film and television details
Each entry separates the real venue from its fictional role and states which part of the site was filmed. Scene notes avoid major spoilers.
Festival
The venue says Festival used the pub as a set. No independent location record was found in the checked sources, so the exact scene and filming scope remain unconfirmed.
Filming footprint: Exact scope not confirmed
- The Antiquary: history Venue-reported use as a film set.
Book of Blood
The venue says Book of Blood used the pub as a set. No independent location record was found in the checked sources, so the exact scene and filming scope remain unconfirmed.
Filming footprint: Exact scope not confirmed
- The Antiquary: history Venue-reported use as a film set.
Literary connections
Each note states whether the link comes from a writer’s own words, a fictional setting, a commemorative name or a venue tradition.
The Antiquary
Current venue identity
The operator says the bar takes its name from Sir Walter Scott’s novel The Antiquary. This is a naming tribute and does not establish that Scott used the premises.
- The Antiquary Operator statement explaining the Walter Scott naming link.
What to notice
- 01
The entrance is below street level and the interior is a sequence of low, connected rooms.
- 02
The Walter Scott link is in the name: it does not establish that Scott used this address.
- 03
Thursday folk music and Wednesday and Sunday quizzes are current listings, but check before making a special trip.
The time rail
The building, the pub and its interior may date from different periods. The timeline keeps documented dates separate from tradition.
The University of Edinburgh student newspaper recorded The Antiquary trading on St Stephen Street.
The current operator says the premises changed from a restaurant into a basement bar.
The venue dates a layout refit with reclaimed gym flooring to roughly fifteen years before its current history page.
CAMRA surveyed the connected rooms, panelling and current cask offer.
CAMRA updated the venue record and current opening schedule.
An independent review documented the beamed ceilings, stone walls, stained-glass lights and Burton IPA mirror.
Sources & confidence
The venue site supplies the current identity, Walter Scott naming explanation and its own account of the restaurant origins, refit and screen use. A 1985 University of Edinburgh newspaper independently establishes the bar by that date. CAMRA supplies the current hours, layout, cask beer and events, while a February 2026 independent review records the interior in detail. The film claims were not independently confirmed in the checked sources, so they remain venue-reported and carry an explicit scope warning. Address ranges vary across licensing and visitor records; the official visitor-facing 72-78 range is used.
Research reviewed
- The AntiquaryThe Antiquaryofficial
SupportsCurrent identity, contact details, Walter Scott naming link, offer and events.
- The Antiquary: historyThe Antiquaryofficial
SupportsVenue account of restaurant origins, later refit and reported film use.
- Antiquary, EdinburghCampaign for Real Alespecialist
SupportsCurrent hours, basement layout, cask offer, folk music and quiz listings.
- Student newspaper, 2 October 1985University of Edinburgharchive
SupportsContemporary evidence that The Antiquary was trading on St Stephen Street by October 1985.
- AntiquaryEdinburgh Pub Reviewseditorial
SupportsIndependent February 2026 account of the current interior and visual details.
- The AntiquaryEdinburghGuideeditorial
SupportsCurrent venue identity, address, coordinates and visitor offer.
- Licensed premises dataCity of Edinburgh Councilgovernment
SupportsLicensed premises identity and evidence of address-range variation.
- The Antiquary map featureOpenStreetMapappearance
SupportsMapped position and coordinates on St Stephen Street.
