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Summary

Description

17th century. Reconstructed, 1725 by the Incorporation of Cordiners and again, 1956 by Robert Hurd (see Notes). Substantial, 5-storey, 6-bay tenement with moulded cornice and blocking course; shop to ground. Roughly squared rubble with sandstone ashlar dressings. Slightly raised, chamfered margins. Regular fenestration to upper floors with narrower openings to far left. Curved corner to 4th floor, outer right. Carved panel to centre between 1st and 2nd floors. Central shop door way flanked by shallow-canted fixed-pane windows. Timber door to stair at far right, serving dwellings at upper floors.

Predominantly 12-pane glazing to timber sash and case windows to upper levels. Grey slate. End stack to W. Clay cans.

Statement of Special Interest

No 195-197 Canongate, also known as 'Shoemaker's Land', is an interesting and imposing example of a reconstructed 17th century tenement building within the Canongate. It is particularly notable for its considerable height and balanced proportions, adding interest to the N side of the Canongate. Additions to the building were made in 1725 when the Incorporation of Cordiners rebuilt the surviving westerly half of the tenement. The carved panel between 1st and 2nd floors is of particular interest, containing the emblem of the cordiners and is inscribed 'Blessed is he that wisely doth the poor man's case consider'. The Cordiners were tanners, curriers and shoemakers who derived their title from the French "Courdouanier" meaning "of Cordova", the source of the finest leather at that time. The tenement was further reconstructed in 1956 as part of Robert Hurd's award winning Canongate regeneration scheme which saw the revitalisation of numerous tenements including the adjacent 'Bible Land' and 'Moroco Land' (see separate listings).

The historic and architectural value of Edinburgh's Canongate area as a whole cannot be overstated. Embodying a spirit of permanence while constantly evolving, its buildings reflect nearly 1000 years of political, religious and civic development in Scotland. The Canons of Holyrood Abbey were given leave by King David I to found the burgh of Canongate in 1140. Either side of the street (a volcanic ridge) was divided into long, narrow strips of land or 'tofts'. By the end of the 15th century all the tofts were occupied, some subdivided into 'forelands' and 'backlands' under different ownership. Fuedal superiority over Canongate ceased after 1560. The following century was a period of wide-scale rebuilding and it was during this time that most of the areas' mansions and fine townhouses were constructed, usually towards the back of the tofts, away from the squalor of the main street. The 17th century also saw the amalgamation of the narrow plots and their redevelopment as courtyards surrounded by tenements. The burgh was formally incorporated into the City in 1856. Throughout the 19th Century the Canongate's prosperity declined as large sections of the nobility and middle classes moved out of the area in favour of the grandeur and improved facilities of Edinburgh's New Town, a short distance to the North. The Improvement Act of 1867 made efforts to address this, responding early on with large-scale slum clearance and redevelopment of entire street frontages. A further Improvement Act (1893) was in part a reaction to this 'maximum intervention', responding with a programme of relatively small-scale changes within the existing street pattern. This latter approach was more consistent with Patrick Geddes' concept of 'conservative surgery'. Geddes was a renowned intellectual who lived in the Old Town and was a pioneer of the modern conservation movement in Scotland which gathered momentum throughout the 20th century. Extensive rebuilding and infilling of sections of the Canongate's many tenements took place, most notably by city architects, E J McRae and Robert Hurd (mid 20th century) with some early frontages retained and others rebuilt in replica.

List description updated at resurvey (2007/08).

References

Bibliography

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