View of 3-6 Chessel's Court, 240 Canongate, Edinburgh, from N.

Description View of 3-6 Chessel's Court, 240 Canongate, Edinburgh, from N.

Date 20/8/2013

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

Catalogue Number DP 160536

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content This shows 3-6 Chessel's Court, behind 240 Canongate. The central three-storeyed plus basement block was built 1742-8 by wright (master-carpenter) and merchant Archibald Chessel to provide 'mansion flats' for relatively wealthy citizens. The wings to east and west were added c.1765. Along with 1 and 2 Chessel's Court (just visible right), the buildings were restored as part of a major redevelopment scheme by Robert Hurd & Partners in 1963-4. This restoration retained the traditional features of the 18th-century buildings including the harled facades, multi-paned sash and case windows and internally, a range of 18th-century decorative features such as Rococco chimneypieces and painted panelling. The restoration of these blocks provided a range of residential and commercial premises along with a school and schoolhouse. During the early 19th century, this building operated as a deaf and dumb institution (as noted on various historical maps including Robert Kirkwood's 'Plan of the City of Edinburgh and its environs', 1817). This Institution was founded in 1810 and moved to a site in Henderson Row in 1826. The pioneering town planner, Sir Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) bought the property in the late 19th/early 20th century to prevent it being demolished as part of a scheme of slum clearances implemented as a result of the 1867 Improvement Act. As part of this, he and his wife created one of several children's gardens in the Old Town of Edinburgh: the St Saviour's Child Garden Nursery, opened in 1906 in Brown's Close, moved to Chessel's Court in 1908.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1348404

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap