General view of Bakehouse Close, 146 Canongate, Edinburgh, from SW.

Description General view of Bakehouse Close, 146 Canongate, Edinburgh, from SW.

Date 24/7/2013

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number DP 158589

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content Canongate (or Canongait, the Canon's 'way' or 'route') was a Burgh of Regality granted by the Crown to the Abbey Kirk of Holyrood in 1128. By the 17th century it was in the shadow of its neighbour, Edinburgh. It eventually lost its separate burgh status in 1856. Bakehouse or Hammermen's Close houses Acheson House (left), which dates from 1633 and was built for Sir Archibald Acheson, (c.1580-1634) a London-based MP and Privy Councillor. This house shows the typical backland burgh style, in this case three storeys, with crow-stepped gables, multi-paned sash and case windows. Originally created in the 16th century with the three plots that make up the close being united with a stone frontage by the Acheson family, the whole building was restored by Neil and Hurd in 1936-7, with the crow-stepped gable of the stair-tower being conjectural, built in 1936 (RObert Hurd, History of Acheson House, 1952). The wooden jettied building on the left is part of the second backland on the west side of the Close.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1345405

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap