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366 Days of Architecture

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Saturday 9th January 2016

Celebrating John Lessels

The architect John Lessels was born on 9th January 1809. His early career saw him working for the eminent architect William Burn before setting up his own offices in the 1840s and his pupils included David MacGibbon and Robert Rowand Anderson. His entry in the Dictionary of Scottish Architects shows the many buildings that bear his name in, around and beyond the capital. Today's choice is Lessel's Palace Hotel, Princes Street, Edinburgh of 1869, captured in this image from c.1935 in the Scottish Colorfoto Collection. It was destroyed by a devastating fire in 1991, an event documented as part of our Threatened Buildings Survey.

Friday 8th January 2016

A Jacobite Siege at Stirling Castle

We're staying in Stirlingshire today for an important episode in the history of Stirling. On 8th January 1746 the burgh of Stirling surrendered to the Jacobite army. However, the castle remained in Hanoverian hands despite a Jacobite siege which caused many casualties on both sides. Hanoverian forces under General Hawley marched from Edinburgh to break the siege, and met the Jacobites at the Battle of Falkirk. Today's drawing shows the Great Hall, Stirling Castle, made in about 1959 by Geoffrey D Hay. It shows the east elevation of the Great Hall, as reconstructed from evidence contained within the building's fabric. It had been converted into a barrack block around 1800.

Thursday 7th January 2016

Happy Birthday Sydney Mitchell

7th January was the birthday of Arthur George Sydney Mitchell (1856-1930), a Larbert-born architect who went into practice with George Wilson (1844-1912) in the 1880s. The practice's achievements include Well Court, Edinburgh for The Scotsman owner J R Findlay; Ben Nevis Observatory for the Scottish Meteorological Society; the lavish remodelling of the now-demolished Duntreath Castle, Stirlingshire (today's featured building); and a series of commissions for the Commercial Bank of Scotland. They are perhaps best known for their hospital work, especially the Thomas Clouston Clinic, Craighouse, Edinburgh, and the Crichton Hospital, Dumfries.