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

TORPHICHEN STREET, FORMER TORPHICHEN STREET EDUCATION CENTRE, INCLUDING JANITOR'S HOUSE, GATES, GATEPIERS, BOUNDARY WALLS AND RAILINGSLB43888

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
05/02/1997
Local Authority
Edinburgh
Planning Authority
Edinburgh
Burgh
Edinburgh
NGR
NT 24389 73343
Coordinates
324389, 673343

Description

Robert Wilson, 1887. 2-storey symmetrical school in classical style on corner site. Cream sandstone polished ashlar to principal elevation; squared and snecked rubble to sides and rear. Base course; dividing band course; consoled cornice and blocking course; architraved windows.

S (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: central advanced 3-storey, 3-bay pedimented block (2nd floor windows partially in-filled) flanked by engaged polygonal towers with pilastered and domed cupolas. 2-storey, 3-bay wings flanking. Lower 2-storey, 2-bay wings recessed to outer left and right; round-arched doorways with square-columned pedimented doorpieces in penultimate bays; corniced and architraved doorways in outer bays.

E ELEVATION: asymmetrical; ashlar bay to left with windows off-centre to right of ground and 1st floors; single storey wing adjoining to outer right, window to left; 2-storey wing to far right.

N ELEVATION: not seen 2000.

W ELEVATION: asymmetrical; ashlar bay to right with windows off-centre to left of ground and 1st floors; single storey canted wing advanced to outer left, regular fenestration; 2-storey wing to far left.

15-pane timber sash and case windows (6-pane upper sashes, 9-pane lower sashes). Grey slate piended roof; polygonal roof ventilators with swept caps. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: not seen 1997.

JANITOR'S HOUSE: 2-storey, 3-bay, symmetrical rectangular-plan classical house adjoining No 25 Torphichen Street. Base, band and cill courses; cornice. E (entrance) elevation: recessed central bay; tripartite doorway; panelled door; fanlight; single window above and in bays to outer left and right. S (Torphichen Street) elevation: single bay; single windows to both floors.

GATES, GATEPIERS, BOUNDARY WALLS AND RAILINGS: plain iron railing gates; corniced pedestrian gatepiers.

Statement of Special Interest

Wilson, as architect to the Edinburgh School Board, designed numerous other schools including Milton House (1886), Marchmont Road (1882), Sciennes (1889), South Morningside (1891), Castlehill (1896), and North Canongate Infant (1900). Torphichen Street School was planned as a combined infant and juvenile school with two classroom blocks (N and S) linked by a central stair hall. Internally the building was divided at the ground floor with girls to E and boys to W; and at the 1st floor, boys to E and girls to W. The S block at the front of the site was angled to turn the corner from Torphichen Street to Canning Street. Apart from careful planning to fit the existing street plan, Torphichen Street School was also proportioned and detailed in sympathy with the neighbouring earlier 19th century tenements.

References

Bibliography

City Archives, Dean of Guild Warrant, 28-APR-1887; 1914 OS MAP; J Gifford, C McWilliam and D Walker, EDINBURGH (Buildings of Scotland series), (1984), p369.

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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