Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Description

John Chesser, 1886-88 incorporating 2 earlier, recessed buildings immediately to left and right of central pavilion (see Notes). Substantial, predominantly 2-storey with basement and attic, former educational building with elaborate Free Renaissance 6-4-3-4-6 bay composition, stepped to follow gentle slope of Chamber Street. Sandstone ashlar; channelled at ground floor. Deep-moulded cill courses; dentiled eaves and blocking course. Balustraded cill aprons at 1st floor. Mansard roof with ornate iron cresting.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: 3-storey central pavilion with pair of coupled Roman Doric columns flanking round arched entrance with rope moulding. Corinthian columns at 1st floor flanking central tripartite bow window; sculptured pilasters and central tripartite with Corinthianesque colonnettes at 2nd floor. Above, scrolled pediment bearing figure of putto at anvil; truncated pyramid roof with wrought-iron crown.

Recessed 3 storey and attic, 4-bay to left (former phrenological museum): ground floor canted bay with stilted segmental arches and portrait keystones; balustraded parapet above. Key-blocked and segmental-arched windows to 1st floor; round-arched to 2nd, all with Corinthianesque columns. Segmental-headed, moulded pediment to dormer above. Recessed 2-storey and attic, 4 bay to right (E): segmental-arched openings; key-blocked and consoled at 1st floor, segmental-arched dormers. W wing repeats this treatment for 3 bays and ends in a 3-bay centre bay pavilion with round-arched ground floor; Roman Doric pilasters at 1st with ornamented necking and frieze; sculptured attic panel. Bipartite round-arched windows to W flank. E wing: 3-bay to left with superimposed pilasters, coupled at ground floor, broad at 1st floor. Corinthianesque columns to windows. Dormer approximately answering the phrenological museum; remaining 3-bays repeat of right side of W wing.

Predominantly 4 and 8-pane timber sash and case windows. Grey slate. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Slated mansard roofs with elaborate iron cresting.

INTERIOR: seen 2007 - comprehensive late 20th century refurbishment for use as Crown Offices serving Sheriff Court to rear.

Statement of Special Interest

No 25 Chambers Street is a fine example of a late 19th century institutional building with good Rennaissance detailing borrowing stylistic influences from French chateau design. Its imposing 268' principal elevation integrates and adapts already existing buildings to create a unified and balanced whole. It substantial mass adds significantly to the streetscape, responding to the monumental Renaissance bulk of the Museum of Scotland (see separate listing) located opposite. Built by George Heriot's Trust, which the Educational Endowments Commission amalgamated with the Watt Institution in 1885, the building incorporates two slightly older structures either side of what is now the central pavilion section. These are the original Watt Institution, built by David Cousin & John Lessels 1872 to designs by David Rhind, the prominent Edinburgh architect renowned for his commercial buildings and now represented by the 4 bays to the right of Chesser's central pavilion (which in turn replaced the French-roofed pavilion of Rhind's earlier building). To the immediate left is the former Phrenological Museum by David Cousin of 1875-77. Rhind's original building comprised the existing 4-bay with a monumental porch bearing a statue of James Watt by Peter Slater 1854. The composition of the earlier building approximately answered that of Minto House (at the other end of Chambers Street) in reverse. Well-respected Scottish architect, John Chesser was renowned for his work in the Rennaissance style and carried out a number of commissions in association with Heriot-Watt. Cousin and Lessels laid out the plans for many of Edinburgh's early responses to the Improvement Act of 1872 including the wholesale rebuilding of portions of Blackfriars Street and St Mary's Street.

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

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.