Detail of carved stone above entrance to Bull's Close, 106 Canongate, Edinburgh.

Description Detail of carved stone above entrance to Bull's Close, 106 Canongate, Edinburgh.

Date 18/9/2013

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

Catalogue Number DP 161400

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content This shows a resited inscribed stone above the entrance to Bull's Close at 106 Canongate. The inscription is not fully legible, but includes a heraldic shield in the centre with the left side reading 'AVXILI' and 'MY HELP'. The stone probably came from a property originally on this site, being relocated during redevelopment in 1930/1. The entrance to Bull's Close is within a three-storeyed-plus attic tenement at 106 Canongate. The close is marked on John Ainslie's map of Edinburgh of 1780 as 'Drummond's Close', but is noted as 'Drummonds or Bulls Cl' on his later map of 1804. By the time of the Ordnance Survey Six Inch map of 1854, the close is known as Bull's Close. The present building was redeveloped by Edinburgh's City Architect, Ebenezer James MacRae (1881-1951), as part of his Canongate Improvement Scheme in 1930/1. Along with several others on the Canongate, this tenement was rebuilt incorporating serveral design features of the vernacular architecture expected in a traditional Scottish burgh, whilst also improving the facilities within. This particular tenement has rusticated rubble stonework on the main elevation and retains traditional timber-framed, multi-paned sash and case windows. The attic floor has bipartite windows in gabled dormers to the outer bays, with single windows within piended dormers flanking the central chimneystack. Bull's Close is believed to have been named after the wright and burgess Robert Bull who owned property here around the turn of the 18th century. Like many of the closes along the High Street and Canongate, the close has been recorded under several names, generally relating to people who have lived or owned property there. As noted above, Bull's Close was also know as Drummond's Close, believed to be named for another former resident, Mrs Marion (also May or Mary) Drummond, a well-known Quakeress preacher. Other names recorded for this location are Lamont's Land (for Peter Lamont, lint manufacturer), and Ford's Row (for William Ford of the adjacent Holyrood glassworks).

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1350424

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap