General view of Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton's Close, Canongate, Edinburgh, from NW.
DP 188637
Description General view of Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton's Close, Canongate, Edinburgh, from NW.
Date 24/4/2014
Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu
Catalogue Number DP 188637
Category On-line Digital Images
Scope and Content This shows the Scottish Poetry Library at 5 Crichton's Close, just south of Canongate, Edinburgh. Built in 1999 to designs by Malcolm Fraser Architects, it is a two-storeyed steel-framed structure, with large plate glass windows and oak infill panels, some being shutters which slide closed at night. The east elevation is a former boundary wall for the plot of land leading from Canongate to South Back of Canongate (now Holyrood Road). There are also remnants of other boundary walls incorporated to the north. The set of steps allows the area outside the library to be used for performances. The supporting wall below the steps is covered with blue tiles. The early incarnation of the Scottish Poetry Library was established in 1982 by poet Tessa Ransford (b.1938) as a place to make poetry more widely available than was possible in most public libraries. The library's original base opened in 1984 in Tweeddale Court on Edinburgh's High Street, further west from its present base. William Edgar's map of 1765 has 'Crichton's Coachwork' noted in this location and John Ainslie's maps of 1780 and 1804 both have Crichton's Close and Crichton's Entry marked on them. However, William Bell's map of Canongate from 1813 has 'Carfrae's Coachworks' marked on this location, while the OS six-inch 1st Edition of 1852, OS 1:1056 map of 1877 and OS 1:500 map of 1893-4 all have this close named Carfrae's Entry. The Post Office Directories have Alexander Crichton, coachmaker in the area during the 1770s, but by 1784, the coachmaker here is noted as John Carfrae, which explains the two names for the close.
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1424552
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