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Summary

Description

Later 18th century. 4-storey, 6-bay corner tenement with altered commercial premises to ground and later, circa 1886, 3-storey piend-roofed ashlar bay to left. Later, projecting, flat-roofed, single-storey shop fronts to Nicolson Square (S). Coursed rubble with some Aberdeen bonding. Raised margins, some painted. Cornice to 3rd and top storeys. Later 7-light canted bay window to 1st storey at No 7. 3-light windows to upper storeys to bay to left with timber mullions. 6-panelled timber entrance door to No 8 with rectangular fanlight above. Shop front to No 11 with recessed glass and timber entrance door.

Predominantly plate glass timber sash and case windows to upper storeys, plate glass to shops. Grey slates. Coped gable stacks.

Statement of Special Interest

This later 18th century tenement building forms part of the North side of Nicolson Square and contributes significantly to the surrounding streetscape. It is an integral part of an early Classical planned square and the Aberdeen bond stonework is a distinctive and unusual detail. The tenement was originally three storeys in height. The bay to the West was added circa 1886. The planned square with tenements surrounding a communal garden was a characteristic of Edinburgh's layout in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and they remain an important part of the townscape.

Projecting single storey shop fronts evolved during the 19th century and arose from a desire for shops to have more space, light and a better area for displaying goods. They utilise the space between the building and the pavement, often where a garden or access to a basement has been. They are found throughout Scotland, although are particularly prevalent in Edinburgh. The Ordnance Survey Map of 1893-4 depicts this tenement with platts and steps over a basement which suggests that the projecting shop fronts here date from the late 19th or early 20th century.

The development of Nicolson Square dates from 1765 when the city was beginning to expand to the South and the land here was feued from the Estate of Lady Nicolson. This tenement forms part of a row of tenements which still survive on the N side of the Square.

List description revised as part of Edinburgh Holyrood Ward resurvey 2007-08.

References

Bibliography

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