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

LAURISTON PLACE, GEORGE HERIOT'S SCHOOL GATEHOUSE, TERRACES, WAR MEMORIAL, BOUNDARY WALLS, RAILINGS AND GATESLB47885

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Group Category Details
100000019 - see notes
Date Added
25/07/1966
Local Authority
Edinburgh
Planning Authority
Edinburgh
Burgh
Edinburgh
NGR
NT 25584 73184
Coordinates
325584, 673184

Description

GATEHOUSE: William Playfair, 1828. Rectangular-plan embattled, bartizaned gatehouse with round-arched rib-vaulted entrance and flanking single storey lodges. Coursed ashlar with polished ashlar dressings. Base course; moulded band at impost level; voussoirs decorated with roses and mullets; enriched key console; buckle quoins. Timber panelled doors in corniced moulded surrounds with strapwork pediments from entrance tunnel to lodges, flanked by small aedicular windows. Parapets with loopholes and pedimented decorative brackets with gargoyles; aedicular windows (niches to N) with strapwork pediments to N, S E and W elevations of lodges.

TERRACES: balustered terraces surrounding main building, carriage entrance and steps at N, NE, NW, SE and SW (see Notes).

WAR MEMORIAL: James B Dunn, 1922. Stone pelican on square base atop octagonal column on octagonal base with carved arms and inscriptions alternating with copper panels bearing names of fallen of 1st World War. Additions and repairs (Reid and Forbes, 1949): to rear of balustraded platform, ashlar wall with inset copper panels bearing names of 2nd World War dead.

BOUNDARY WALL, RAILINGS AND GATES: low coursed ashlar boundary wall with rounded ashlar coping and tall stone obelisks at intervals. Spear-headed cast-iron railings; tall decorative cast-iron gates to entrance tunnel. Tall ashlar-coped rubble wall to E (boundary with Greyfriars churchyard); coping swept down to tall corniced obelisk-topped ashlar gatepiers; decorative wrought-iron 2-leaf gates with lamp and Heriot crest.

Statement of Special Interest

The A Group comprises the main building, the Examination Hall, the Chemistry and Technology Blocks, the Preparatory Department, the Science Block and the gatehouse, terraces, war memorial, boundary walls, railings and gates. The school was originally intended to be viewed from the N, and entered from the Grassmarket, the building having its back to the Flodden Wall. However, as the area to the N became built up, and the city expanded, the entrance was moved to Lauriston Place. Playfair's additions were intended to have the effect of turning the building round, lending dignity and importance to the new entrance. The W, S and E elevations of the main building were faced with Craigleith stone by Alexander Black in 1833. The school was built on a terraced platform, and surrounded by walled parterres. Playfair also added the balustered parapets, carriage entrance and steps. In the grounds there is also an ornamental stone from the former Heriot foundation school in Chambers Street (1846).

References

Bibliography

Appear on 1852 OS map. Gifford, McWilliam and Walker EDINBURGH (1984) p182.

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: 29/03/2024 11:34