Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Description

Stewart Henbest Capper, 1892. Asymmetrical, approximately L-plan 5-storey and attic tenement, built on falling ground, picturesquely grouped, with Arts and Crafts/Scottish vernacular detailing. Cream harled with red sandstone and painted dressings. Swept roofs; broad timber bracketed eaves; crowstepped gables and skews. Bracketed balconies with wrought-iron balustrades; some tabbed surrounds to windows.

S ELEVATION: crowstep-gabled bay to outer right: pend to Ramsay Court to ground; 2-storey oriel to 1st and 2nd floors; bracketed, pentice-roofed jettied oriel above with wrought-iron window guard; crenellated circular stair tower clasping corner to left. 2-bay block to left: glazed door in pentice-roofed porch to ground, small window to left with carved cherub holding sundial beneath in carved surround with inscription (see Notes) and date (1892); corbelled to corner at left to 2nd floor; decoratively bracketed balcony linking to re-entrant angle at 3rd floor; tabbed windows at 4th and 2 finialled dormerheaded windows to attic (that to right bipartite) breaking eaves above corbel table. Recessed bay to outer left with balcony at 4th floor and nesting boxes above.

W ELEVATION: 4-bay block to right: 2-storey oriel to 3rd and 4th floors to centre; jettied balcony with timber balustrade to gabled dormerhead above (windows to 3 sides), flanked by piend-roofed dormers; balcony clasping corner to outer right at 4th floor; small pentice-roofed projection to outer left at 4th floor. 3-bay block to left: 2-storey oriel to 2nd and 3rd floors to left; jettied oriel above; small balcony with curved wrought-iron railings to outer left; piend-roofed dormer to attic to right, swept-roofed tripartite dormer to left.

E ELEVATION: gabled and jettied dormer to attic at outer left, above adjoining former reservoir (separately listed). Asymmetrically gabled N-facing 5-storey and attic elevation to re-entrant angle, with pend to outer left oriel to 3rd floor and jettied window to attic. Regularly fenestrated 3-bay block to left with timber boarded door to right, bracketed eaves, swept roof and tripartite dormer to attic. Engaged 6-stage circular stair tower to corner: timber boarded door in roll-moulded ogee-arched surround with inscription (see Notes) above; windows linked vertically by carved heraldic panels; bracketed balcony with curved wrought-iron balustrade at 6th stage; finialled bell-cast slated roof. 3-bay block to right: door to right in pentice-roofed porch; 2 small pentice-roofed jettied projections to right; oriel to left at 5th floor, gabled 2-window dormer to attic.

Small-pane glazing, some in casement, some in sash and case windows. Corniced stacks with circular cans. Crowstepped skews. Mixture of red tiles and Aberfoyle green slates with terracotta ridge tiles to roofs.

Statement of Special Interest

The A group comprises Nos 1-3, Nos 4-10, Nos 11 and 12 and Nos 13-16 Ramsay Garden. The ground on which Ramsay Garden stands was acquired by the poet Allan Ramsay in 1733. On it he built an octagonal villa, Ramsay Lodge, completed circa 1734. The property was purchased by Professor Patrick Geddes from Lord Murray of Henderland, a descendant of Ramsay, in 1890. The complex which Geddes built, incorporating Ramsay Lodge and a plain 18th century tenement to the E, and designed by S Henbest Capper and Sydney Mitchll and Wilson, was an extension of his University Hall, begun in 1883 at 2 Mound Place. As the article in the BUILDER suggests, Geddes' intention was to 'combine the advantages of collegiate life with the more practical needs and shorter purses of Scottish undergraduates.' The SW block (Nos 13-16) was the first to be completed, and was intended to attract 'older men, mostly married, interested in the scheme, at least to the extent of letting a friendly part towards the students.' It included the 12-room flat which Geddes had built for himself. The inscription above the door to the circular tower reads PAX INTRANTIBUS, SALUS EXEUNTIBUS. The sundial to S has a Greek inscription and Burns quote IT'S COMING YET FOR A' THAT. The small pentice-roofed extensions were intended as larders, corbelled out from rows of nesting boxes. The Ramsay Garden complex is important both architecturally and historically, and also has immense townscape importance -particularly the sky-line as viewed from Princes Street.

References

Bibliography

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.