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Summary

Description

W H Playfair, 1823-4. Octagonal, 2-storey, former curling society meeting house, situated on sloping banks of Duddingston Loch. Lime harled rubble with raised tooled ashlar margins. Deep modillioned cornice. External stair to N leads to rectangular entrance opening. Further entrance opening to S. Restored as curling museum (2010-11).

INTERIOR: (seen 2012). Flagstone floor. Painted rubble walls with stone fire surround.

Statement of Special Interest

Thomson Tower is a unique building, designed by the renowned architect W H Playfair, as the meeting place of the Society who invented the modern game of curling. The well-proportioned octagonal structure sits overlooking the Duddingston Loch and adds significantly to the local landscape. The modillioned cornice and raised margins add simple and balanced detailing to the small structure.

It was built by the Duddingston Curling Society as a meeting place and storeroom. With a membership of eminent men, the Duddingston Curling Society was one of the foremost curling societies of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The members wrote and agreed the first rules of curling in 1804, and these form the basis of the rules of the modern game. By 1823, numbers of the Society had increased and it was looking for new accommodation. They commissioned the Edinburgh-based W H Playfair to design a building for them. The lower room of the tower, which leads directly to the loch was used a store for curling stones and the upper room was used a meeting room for the committee.

The tower is situated close to the manse of Duddingston Kirk and the then minister, Rev John Thomson, was a competent artist. He used the upper room of the tower as a painting studio.

The village of Duddingston and the Loch were a natural location for a curling club. The game had been played at Duddingston since the 1750s. In 1795 a group of curlers from in and around the village decided to form themselves into the Duddingston Curling Society, becoming the most influential curling club in the country during the 19th century.

W H Playfair (1789-1857) was a renowned and eminent architect and a leading figure in Edinburgh's Enlightenment. He was responsible for many significant buildings in 19th century Edinburgh including the National Gallery (1848), The Royal Scottish Academy (1822-6) and Royal Circus (see separate listings). An expert exponent of the Greek Revival style, his buildings helped to create the Enlightenment character of Edinburgh. Further information regarding the Tower can be found in David B Smith, Curling: An Illustrated History (Edinburgh, 1981) 33.

Curling is believed to have originated in Scotland with the earliest reference to throwing stones on ice dating from 1541. In previous centuries Scotland's climate provided the ideal conditions for the outdoor version of this sport and curling became an integral part of its sporting heritage. Organised curling began with the forming of curling clubs around 1716. The rules of curling were first written down in 1804 by the Duddingston Curling Society, and codified by the Grand (later Royal) Caledonian Curling Company, established in 1838.

The advent of modern indoor curling came in 1907 after new freezing technology was developed. Traditionally, curling stones were made from granite from the island of Ailsa Craig. When curling became an official Olympic sport, at the 1998 Nagano games, granite from the Scottish island was recognised as the primary material source for all Olympic curling stones. Large curling tournaments, known as Grande Matches, form part of the history of the sport and curling continues to be closely identified with Scotland.

List description revised as part of the Edinburgh Holyrood Ward resurvey 2007-8 and as part of the sporting buildings thematic study (2012-13).

References

Bibliography

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