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

43-49 (ODD NOS) FREDERICK STREET WITH RAILINGS AND 49 SW THISTLE STREET LANELB28785

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Date Added
24/03/1966
Supplementary Information Updated
28/03/1996
Local Authority
Edinburgh
Planning Authority
Edinburgh
Burgh
Edinburgh
NGR
NT 25146 74042
Coordinates
325146, 674042

Description

1786-92; colonnaded shopfront at ground, 1823; later internal alterations; extra storey added to S in mid 19th century. 2 classical blocks of 4 and 5 bays; 4-storey 4-bay to S with platt over basement area; 3-storey on raised basement and attic 5-bay to N. Droved cream ashlar sandstone with polished dressings (cleaned to S); rubble basement.

S BLOCK: 6-bay colonnade with fluted Greek Ionic columns and full entablature at ground; plate glass windows between columns and 2 sets of doors. Upper floors with 3 right bays displaced to right; string course marks original eaves with cornice and blocking course to extra storey.

N BLOCK: architraved and corniced doorway to common stair to right with panelled door and plate glass fanlight. 4-bay shopfront to left with large architraved plate glass windows between base course and entablature and steps to similar doorway with 2-leaf panelled doors and plate glass fanlight, whole framed by pilasters; bar in basement with architraved windows and doorpiece. Broad slate hung box dormer to 4 N bays with 3 canted windows.

Irregular 3-bay rubble gable. Saloon to rear expressed at corner of SW Thistle Street Lane with L-plan pilastered building with incised Greek detailing.

Timber sash and case plate glass windows (12-pane to attic/4th storey). Ashlar coped skews; rendered stacks; piended roof to S (4-storey) block; grey slates.

INTERIOR: shop at ground at No 43 with columns and top-lit saloon to rear. Common stair (No 45) gives access to flats at 1st and 2nd floors. S double upper (with full 4th storey) decorated with 11 framed painted panels of figures in pastoral landscapes on stairwell in Watteauesque manner of D R Hay, dating from about 1835-40; foliate cast-iron balustrade to stair, and Greek key cornice; former 2-bay Dining Room displaced laterally at front with apse and sideboard recess on S wall, flanked by presses, and 19th century Greek cornice; fine carved chimneypiece to SE room. N double upper with turned and block timber banisters; painted carved chimneypiece to front room.

RAILINGS: cast-iron railings to N block.

Statement of Special Interest

The panels in their original gilt frames (now painted white) are identical to panels after Watteau signed by D R Hay and dated 1835 at Prestonhall, Midlothian. Other similar schemes survive at Craigcrook Castle, Lauriston Castle and 34 Great King Street, all in Edinburgh (see separate listings). Discernible beneath later paint is the outline of the original stencilled decoration on the walls of the stair hall. No 43 was formerly the grocers, Hill Thomson, and the shop was created for the firms founders, Robert and William Hill; it had early 20th century glazed panels dividing the ground floor and the firm eventually acquired all the floors above, installing an internal stair (removed and flats reinstated 1995), see NMRS. A Group with Nos 37-41 (odd nos) Frederick Street as a significant surviving part of the original fabric of Edinburgh?s New Town, one of the most important and best preserved examples of urban planning in Britain.

References

Bibliography

RCAHMS INVENTORY no 137. Kirkwood 1819. Gifford, McWilliam and Walker EDINBURGH (1988) p298. A J Youngson THE MAKING OF CLASSICAL EDINBURGH (1966) p92.

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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