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

37-52 (INCLUSIVE NOS) SOUTH BRIDGE, 1-5 (ODD NOS) INFIRMARY STREET AND 2-14 (EVEN NOS) NIDDRY STREET SOUTHLB29792

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
C
Group Category Details
100000019 - See Notes
Date Added
29/04/1977
Local Authority
Edinburgh
Planning Authority
Edinburgh
Burgh
Edinburgh
NGR
NT 25996 73484
Coordinates
325996, 673484

Description

Possibly Robert Kay (see Notes), circa 1790. 3-storey and attic row of Classical tenements comprising 6 x 6-bay sections with shops to ground. Situated on steeply sloping site with further 3 basement storeys to Cowgate (N) and Niddry Street (E). Ashlar with coursed rubble to rear. Pedimented gables with lunettes to Infirmary Street and Cowgate. Band course, raised cills, cornice. Some round-arched openings to ground with 6-panel timber entrance doors and multi-pane glazed fanlights above.

Several shopfronts with timber fascias, fluted timber pilasters, decorative timber consoles and timber panelled stallrisers. Later dormers, box dormers, mansard and attic storeys. Raised architraves with consoled cornice to windows to N.

Predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case windows. Coped gable, wallhead and ridge stacks. Grey slates.

Statement of Special Interest

A Group with the South Bridge and Nos 4-13, 19-67 and 87-99 South Bridge and 9 and 10 Hunter Square and 107-108 South Bridge.

This row of tenements with its restrained, classical style and simple detailing is an integral component of the important 18th century planned streetscape of the South Bridge. The South Bridge was a major engineering feat, driven through and over one of the most populated sections of the city to provide a link between the expanding suburbs of the South side of the city and the High Street of the Old Town. The row contains a number of good quality shopfronts with carved timber detailing and they add significant character to the streetscape of the bridge. The Cowgate elevation is similar to the design of the opposite end bay of Nos 19-36 South Bridge (see separate listing) and together they provide strong, visual termination features for these 2 tenement rows.

The importance of the original planned terrace of tenement buildings lining the bridge is recognised in the B Group.

In 1753, the South Bridge Act made provision for the building of a bridge to form a link between the North Bridge (see separate listing) and the newly expanding South side of the city. A group of Trustees were set up to oversee the project. These trustees planned to have unified facades down both sides of the bridge and a number of architects, including Robert Adam, put forward plans. The Adam scheme was for a grand, fully colonnaded street and it was rejected because of the expense of the scheme. The Edinburgh architect Robert Kay proposed a simpler plan and the Trustees asked that he consult with 2 other Edinburgh architects, John Baxter and John Brown. The final designs, which are thought to be an combination of the different designs from these architects, were for terraces of simple Classical facades, punctuated with pediments and with round-arched arcading at ground level and plain rectangular windows above.

The A Group recognises the importance of the South Bridge and its associated streetscape buildings as being an outstanding and significant scheme in late 18th century town planning.

List description revised as part of the Edinburgh Holyrood Ward resurvey 2007-8.

References

Bibliography

John Ainslie, Map of Old and New Town of Edinburgh and Leith with the proposed Docks, 1804. Gifford, Colin McWilliam and David Walker, The Buildings of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1984. p234. A Fraser, The Building of Old College, 1989, pf55.

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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Printed: 29/03/2024 05:52