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

University of Edinburgh, Including Boundary Wall, 13 Infirmary Street, EdinburghLB29794

Status: Designated

Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Category
C
Date Added
13/08/1987
Last Date Amended
17/07/2015
Local Authority
Edinburgh
Planning Authority
Edinburgh
Burgh
Edinburgh
NGR
NT 26082 73465
Coordinates
326082, 673465

Description

Thomas Brown, 1822 with later additions, 1896. 3-storey, 5-bay, symmetrical, rectangular-plan Classical former church, (converted to offices), with central 3-bay pedimented section and 1896 projecting flat-roofed ground floor. Cream and grey sandstone ashlar to street (S) elevation with rubble to rear; some ashlar margins. Deep base course, cill course, deep cornice. Some bipartite openings to E.

Principal S elevation with projecting flat-roofed ground floor with central, pedimented, keystoned doorpiece with paired Doric pilasters and 2-leaf timber panelled entrance door with 4-light fanlight above. Paired Doric pilasters separate bays. Some moulded architraves. Balustraded parapet. 3 central key-stoned round-arched window openings of 1896 to 1st storey.

Variety of glazing patterns. Some 6-pane over plate glass timber sash and case windows, other fixed glazing with top hoppers. Piended grey slate roof.

INTERIOR: (seen 2007). Comprehensively altered. Some timber dado panelling. Dog-leg stair with cast-iron barley sugar twist balusters and timber handrail. Some dentilled cornicing at upper storey.

BOUNDARY WALL: high, rubble wall to E with flat coping.

Statement of Special Interest

This is a well-proportioned Classical former church which adds significantly to the streetscape of the area.

Constructed in 1822, the church was designed in the simple, Classical style popular in Edinburgh at the time and which was the defining style of the expanding city. The 1896 additions of the balustraded single-storey projection and the round-arched windows add some fine Classical detailing to the building.

The church was built as a Secession Chapel, and is shown as the Tolbooth Free Church on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1849-53. The projecting single-storey extension was added circa 1896.

Thomas Brown (circa 1781-1850) became the Superintendent of the City Works in Edinburgh in 1819. Most of his work is concentrated in the Edinburgh area.

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

Statutory address updated (2015). Previously listed as '13 Infirmary Street and Boundary Wall'.

References

Bibliography

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland: http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/canmore.html CANMORE ID 118876

John Wood, Plan of the City of Edinburgh, 1823.

1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map, (1849-53).

John Gifford, Colin McWilliam and David Walker, Buildings of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1984 p229.

Dictionary of Scottish Architects, www.codexgeo.co.uk (accessed 09-01-08).

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.

Images

East Elevation, Southeast elevation, University of Edinburgh, Including Boundary Wall, 13 Infirmary Street, Edinburgh
Southeast elevation, University of Edinburgh, Including Boundary Wall, 13 Infirmary Street, Edinburgh

Printed: 28/03/2024 17:47