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

13 AND 15 LEITH STREETLB29250

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Group Category Details
100000019 - (see NOTES)
Date Added
19/12/1979
Local Authority
Edinburgh
Planning Authority
Edinburgh
Burgh
Edinburgh
NGR
NT 25918 74061
Coordinates
325918, 674061

Description

Late 18th century. Wedge-plan, 4-storey and attic, 3-bay near-symmetrical tenement block. Droved ashlar with polished cills, mullions and cornice (coursed rubble to rear). Pilastraded timber shopfront at ground floor; cill band to all upper floors; mutuled eaves cornice; blocking course. Regularly fenestrated.

NW (LEITH STREET) ELEVATION: set-back modern door at centre, flanked left and right by large windows. At far left, timber-panelled door with square fanlight set in segmental-arched opening. Upper floors have blind window at centre flanked either side by tripartite window. 2 piend-roofed dormers to roof above.

SE (REAR) ELEVATION: 4-bay, 7 storey elevation. Predominantly irregular fenestration with droved margins; some openings later enlargements or additions.

GLAZING etc: modern plate glass in timber frames to ground floor. Predominantly 12-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows to upper floors and dormers; 4-pane glazing in timber sash and case to outer sections of tripartite windows. Grey slate roofs and haffits to dormers. Pitched roof; grey slate; stone skews and skewputts. Brick gablehead stack with circular cans to right, brick ridge stack to left.

Statement of Special Interest

Part of an 'A' Group with Nos 6-20 Waterloo Place, Nos 1-29 Waterloo Place, Waverleygate, Regent Bridge, Register House, Balmoral Hoel and 5-43 Leith Street.

The tenements that now remain on the south side of Leith Street were built as upmarket flats on land feued by the magistrates to speculative builders from 1780 onwards. They are important as early examples of speculative tenement design in the New Town, for their continuity of frontage with 1-9 Waterloo Place, and also for their function providing a screen for the rear elevation of Waterloo Place.

In 1979-80 the buildings were renovated by Bamber, Gray and Partners.

The west side of Leith Street (demolished in 1965 to make way for the St James Centre) was known as Leith Street Terrace, and featured a pedestrian walkway/ terrace at first storey level, providing access to an upper tier of shops. The basis of the scheme was a design by Robert Adam in 1786; that which was built was a simplified version of Adam's designs (amended possibly by James Salisbury).

The present dormers to the roof of 13-15 Leith Street are not original, and replace tripartite dormers which complemented the fenestration pattern below.

References

Bibliography

Appears on Kirkwood's map, 1817. Edinburgh Sasines S.R.O. O.S. Survey map, 1853, 1877.Gifford, McWilliam and Walker EDINBURGH (1991) p328, p448. RCAHMS Inventory.

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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Printed: 28/03/2024 21:22