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Summary

Description

Circa 1805; additions, 1877 by Peddie and Kinnear and further additions 1904, possibly by Peddie and Washington Browne. 3-bay, 4-storey classical square-plan villa with 3- storey, 3-bay addition to west with small square plan addition to north west corner. Residence of the first medical officer and other medical staff in the 1920s, now (2014) hospital administrative offices. Original part coursed and squared rubble sandstone in pink, yellow and grey with droved yellow ashlar dressings; additions squared and snecked stugged pink sandstone with droved yellow ashlar dressings. Base course to front of 1805 house and blocking course to advanced central bay. Predominantly 4- pane glazing in timber sash and case windows. Corniced stacks with yellow clay cans. Piended slate roof, cast-iron rain water goods. Distinctive pedimented doorcase to entrance elevation with round arched door; raised attic with segmental arched window, all set in giant round arched recessed panel. Shallow bow window to outer bay of 1904 section.

Good largely intact late 19th century interior scheme (seen 2014) with timber panelled doors and timber chimneypieces. Decorative plasterwork, particularly fine in public rooms. Late 19th century timber staircase. Rinceau frieze of floral plasterwork to skylight over stair.

Statement of Special Interest

Canaan House is a good example of a substantial early 19th century villa with large yet sympathetic late 19th century additions including fine interiors. The early core and some interior spaces are still evident and there are good quality well-detailed late 19th century and early 20th century additions by the eminent architects Peddie and Kinnear (later Peddie and Washington Browne). It is the earliest surviving building on the Astley Ainslie site and one of the earliest houses in the Grange area of Edinburgh which was largely developed from the mid-19th century onwards. It is a significant component of the Astley Ainslie Hospital site which is an unusual hospital site for its suburban garden character that has largely been retained with a number of buildings which have been little or moderately altered.

The Astley Ainslie Institution was constituted in 1921 when the Board of Governors purchased about 31 acres of ground of the Canaan estate through an endowment by David Ainslie, who had acquired considerable wealth as a farmer and sheep breeder. The hospital was to be for convalescents from the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. As pressure on beds steadily grew during the 19th century, convalescent hospitals were a way of moving recovering patients out and freeing up beds for more acute cases. Typically these were situated on the outskirts of cities and towns where patients could benefit from fresh, clean air. This emphasis on light and clean air was inspired by the example of Continental sanatoria.

In the area initially purchased through the Ainslie bequest there were three villas with their large gardens: Canaan House, the subject of this record, Canaan Park and Millbank. The first hospital unit, opened in 1923 as an experimental unit for female patients was Canaan Park, a Victorian villa which had been adapted and extended for hospital use as the facility expanded. New pavilions were added to the site from 1929 as were other related buildings such as the 'Scientific Department' for specialised treatment, the nurses' home and the school as well as accommodation for the superintendent and other staff.

During the Second World War the Astley Ainslie was closed to convalescent patients and became a military hospital. A series of wooden huts were constructed on the site in 1940. The military hospital status continued until 1 October 1945 when the hospital returned to its former function. That same year another villa, St Roque with its large grounds, was added to the site and Morelands to the east of the site was added two years later. New units added since then include a children's unit (1965), a disabled centre (1979) and two day hospitals (1971 and 1983).

In the second half of the 19th century and in the early 20th century hospitals which specialised in particular conditions grew in number. The Astley Ainslie was unusual in that it was not a subscription or voluntary hospital but simply ran on its initial endowment. In Scotland in 1870, there were just seven convalescent homes, mainly in the West, with an annual admission rate of 4000 patients. By the 1930s this had risen to over sixty convalescent homes that cared for more than 34,000 people annually. In 1948 the hospital and its grounds were vested in the Secretary of State for Scotland of the new National Health Service. Its endowment funds were handed over to a Board of Management.

Most major towns had convalescent hospitals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Of the handful that were purpose-built as general convalescent homes in Edinburgh, (the Astley Ainslie, Corstorphine and one in Gilmerton), only the Astley Ainslie continues to provide rehabilitation for patients as well as providing care for older people. Corstorphine has been diverted to other use and Gilmerton is no longer a hospital building. The site is unusual in that the original layout and area of the site have been largely retained and new buildings have been inserted discretely into the landscaped grounds.

Three major phases of work dating from about 1805, 1877 and 1904 are identifiable and since the last date no major alterations have taken place. The quality of the additions by the eminent and prolific architectural practice started by John Dick Peddie and continued by his son John More Dick Peddie lends it further significance. The first phase of additions was made in 1877 when John Dick Peddie was in partnership with Charles Kinnear. This practice had been formed in 1856. By 1904 when the next phase of work was undertaken John More Dick Peddie was running the practice with George Washington Browne as partner, an association which had been formed in the mid-1890s when there was a huge surge in building work for the banks. The partnership was hugely successful.

Listed building record and statutory address updated and category changed from B to C in 2014. Previously listed as 143 Grange Road, Astley Ainslie Hospital, Canaan House.

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