General view of St John's Street,showing Moray House College of Education, Edinburgh, from NW.

Description General view of St John's Street,showing Moray House College of Education, Edinburgh, from NW.

Date 20/8/2013

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

Catalogue Number DP 160514

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content This shows the south-eastern section of St John's Street, which is largely occupied by Paterson's Land, which has its main entrance on Holyrood Road. Designed by the Scottish Education Department's achitect at the time, Alan Keith Robertson (1881-1925), it has a Classical courtyard-plan with large multi-paned sash and case windows in keeping with the style. The building is named after a former rector of the College between 1864 and 1907, Dr Maurice Paterson (1836-1917). In front of Paterson's Land is the former nursery school at Moray House, purpose-built 1929-32 to designs by architect Frank Wood (1900-89). Single-storeyed, the building has sliding multi-paned glazed panels and a verandah to its east and south elevations, to take full advantage of the light. Planned by Annie MacKenzie, who was Infant Mistress at Moray House Demonstration School, the design is based on principles set out by Italian-born Maria Montessori (1870-1952), which focused on creating an educational environment which was suited to children's needs. This included allowing children to learn at their own pace, and all furniture and fittings inside were designed specifially for children. Some of the original low-height coat peg numbes still exist inside. The nursery closed in 1988 and currently houses the Moray House reception centre and archive store. Prior to the nursery being built, a series of women's hostels stood on the site from 1856 to 1929. Moray House College of Education's origins began with the establishment of the Free Church of Scotland's Normal and Sessional School in 1848 at Moray House itself. The need for more teachers following the formalisation of education with the 1872 Education Act saw a dedicated training Department set up in 1878-9. The government took on the responsibility of educational training provision from the church in 1905. It was not until 1959 that Moray House College of Education was formally established, and it has subsequently been an associated part of Heriot Watt University before becoming the University of Edinburgh's Faculty of Education from 1998 on.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1348350

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap