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

NAPIER ROAD AND SPYLAW ROAD, WALLS AND GATEPIERS OF FORMER ROCKVILLE HOUSE (1-18 THE LIMES)LB49358

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
01/08/2003
Local Authority
Edinburgh
Planning Authority
Edinburgh
Burgh
Edinburgh
NGR
NT 24068 71798
Coordinates
324068, 671798

Description

Sir James Gowans, 1858. Walls and gatepiers of the former Rockville House, demolished 1966. Pyramidally-capped circular?plan gatepiers in rubble banded with ashlar. Rubble walls with bull-faced ashlar copes, alternately stepped.

Statement of Special Interest

The walls and gatepiers are all that remain of Rockville, the house which Gowans designed for himself in his own idiosyncratic style. There were previously railings with Gowans' initials. The house had steep mansard roofs with deep bracketed eaves and decorative brattishing, and a 5-stage domed tower 64 feet tall due to which it came to be known affectionately as 'the pagoda'; it was constructed of rubble with a grid system of banded ashlar.

Gowans' buildings were based on his theory of standardised construction, with fixed angles and a stock module of 2 feet, to facilitate mass production. He ran a quarrying business, and was deeply. interested in the practical and aesthetic qualities of stone. Rockville could be seen as the ultimate expression of Gowans' fusion of Rationalism and Romanticism. 'Lammerburn', a smaller and less ambitious house on the other side of Napier Road, survives and gives some idea of how Rockville must have been.

References

Bibliography

The Builder 1866 vol xviii, p161. McAra, Duncan Sir James Gowans, Romantic Rationalist Edinburgh, 1975. Gifford, McWilliam and Walker EDINBURGH (1984) p 502.

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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