Detail of carved lintel above entrance doorway on front elevation at 5 and 11-15 Canongate, Edinburgh.

Description Detail of carved lintel above entrance doorway on front elevation at 5 and 11-15 Canongate, Edinburgh.

Date 5/5/2014

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

Catalogue Number DP 188701

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content This shows an inscribed lintel above the entrance doorway to 5 Canongate, Edinburgh. The lintel reads 'WL MA 1697' and has been retained within the 17th-century tenement, which has been restored and redeveloped twice, with the first scheme being carried out under the guidance of Sir Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) in the late 19th century. A subsequent scheme was carried out in 1972-6, when this tenement was named Russell House after Sir Robert Russell (1890-1972), who was one of several individuals who campaigned for the building to be saved from demolition. The tenement retains a harled frontage, three crowstepped gables at attic level, along with timber-framed, multi-paned sash and case windows throughout. Adjoining Russell House on both sides are modern blocks of flats, built in 1971, as part of the same redevelopment scheme which restored Russell House. These flats have been harled in a mixture of cream, beige and brown and have varying roof levels. The flats carry on into Calton Road, to enclose the land previously known as Robertson's Land, and Robertson's Court. The Court takes its name from William Robertson, a cowfeeder at Croft-an-Righ, who acquired a bakehouse and dwellings here in 1797. These flats stand on land originally occupied by St Thomas's Hospital and Chapel which consisted of an almshouse and a chapel, built in 1541 by George Crichton (d.1544), Bishop of Dunkeld (1526-44). The magistrates of Canongate bought the chapel in 1617 and it was converted into a hospital for the burgh poor. The hospital in turn was converted to a coachhouse in 1747. The original chapel/hospital building was demolished in 1787 and other buildings put up in its place.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1424659

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap