Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

63-67 (ODD NOS) HIGH STREET AND 1 CHALMER'S CLOSE, CARRUBBER'S CLOSE MISSIONLB29036

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
13/08/1987
Supplementary Information Updated
24/01/2003
Local Authority
Edinburgh
Planning Authority
Edinburgh
Burgh
Edinburgh
NGR
NT 26068 73726
Coordinates
326068, 673726

Description

John Armstrong, 1883. 4-storey 5-bay L-plan Palladian Mission building with 2-storey Mission Hall to rear. Shops at ground; entablature above forms base for giant engaged Corinthian order over 1st and 2nd floors; 3rd floor above main dentilled entablature treated as attic storey. Regular fenestration. Polished yellow ashlar facade, bull-faced in pend; red brick (common bond) to rear.

S (HIGH STREET) ELEVATION: central round-arched 2-leaf timber panelled door with plate glass fanlight in pilastered round-arched surround; 3-bay shops in advanced flanking bays; carved festoons to flanking pilasters. 1st floor windows in moulded round-arched surrounds with flanking pilasters. 2nd floor windows aediculed with fluted corinthian pilasters; alternating segmental and triangular pediments; balustraded aprons. Panelled pilasters dividing attic bays; round-arched windows with linked hoodmoulds. Central segmental pediment containing circular panel.

W (CHALMER'S CLOSE) ELEVATION: 4-bay 2-storey red brick range to N of pend on sloping site. Off-centre timber 2-leaf panelled entrance door; similar single-leaf side door. Segmental-arched windows at doorhead level; 1st floor round-arched windows with red ashlar cills; flanking brick pilasters; dentilled eaves course.

N (REAR) ELEVATION: meets coped rubble curtilage wall of Trinity College Church Apse (separately listed); 2 storeys above. Central pedimented bay containing large oculus between brick pilasters; further 2-bay 2-storey wing to W.

E (TRUNK'S CLOSE) ELEVATION: 2-storey red brick on rubble base course; irregular fenestration; red ashlar cills.

Plate glass timber casement windows to 1st and 2nd floors (front) with fixed upper pane; timber sash and case to upper rear. Mission Hall cupolas secondary glazed internally with frosted glass (or plastic?); geometric astragals. Plain leaded glass 3-pane arched casement windows; geometric pattern with narrow yellow and green border. Large modern stained glass oculus depicting crucifix and other religious symbols. All decorative glazing to rear protected externally by wire mesh. Mission Hall flat felt roof; central grey slate pitched roof; pyramidal slate roof to E with cupola; coped brick stack; clay cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: entrance vestibule (modern inner glazed doors) and central stair all with dentilled and modillioned cornicing; moulded arched doorheads; dado and heavily corniced picture rail. Symmetrical Mission Hall is divided horizontally (see Notes); modern floor and staging; centrally raised and curved ceiling with 6 rectangular cupolas; 4 further cupolas to each aisle; 4 arched leaded windows to each aisle; structural Corinthian columns with plain shafts; modillions above; oculus at N. 1st floor S-facing drawing room full 5 bays in length; ceiling divided accordingly by consoled corniced beams; 3 ceiling roses with masks, birds and foliage; 3 later cut-glass electroliers (see Notes); dado rail. Timber panelled doors in upper floors.

Statement of Special Interest

Carrubber's Close Mission, now Carrubber's Christian Centre, is an imposing architectural presence on the Royal Mile. Monteith Close is to the E, Chalmer's to the W and the Mission is built over Sandilands Close. The brick Hall extends to the rear towards Trinity College Church Apse. The foundation stone was laid in 1884 by American evangelist Dwight Moody who raised £10 000 for the project. Inside the hall, a fixed bronze tablet by the sculptor Henry Snell Gamley depicts Sir Alexander Russell Simpson, president of the Mission from 1895 until his death in 1916. Internal alterations to the Hall carried out between 1990 and 1995 involved the installation of a mezzanine floor which cuts through the original double-height U-shaped space, and the removal of the surrounding stepped pews. The alterations enabled a cafe to be housed in the ground floor. The high quality stained glass in the oculus was commissioned from a company in Alva at this time. The ceiling in the 1st floor small 'upper hall', now a lecture theatre, has been lowered but the cupola survives on the pyramidal roof. The exterior remains unaltered. The electroliers in the well-preserved 1st floor drawing room came relatively recently from the German Embassy in Washington D C.

Category changed from C(S) to B, 24 January 2003.

References

Bibliography

Edinburgh City Archive, Dean of Guild plans dated 10.5.1883. Appears on 1893-94 OS map. Gifford, McWilliam, Walker BUILDINGS OF SCOTLAND: EDINBURGH (1984) p205. Edinburgh World Heritage Trust EDINBURGH OLD TOWN STUDY RECORDS (1989). Additional information courtesy of Trevor Gould, Carrubber's Christian Centre secretary.

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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