General view of modern housing incorporated into some remnants of boundary wall of former Gas Works, Old Tolbooth Wynd, Edinburgh, from SE.

Description General view of modern housing incorporated into some remnants of boundary wall of former Gas Works, Old Tolbooth Wynd, Edinburgh, from SE.

Date 27/5/2014

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

Catalogue Number DP 190183

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content This shows modern housing development in Old Tolbooth Wynd, Edinburgh. The wynd joins Canongate in the south to Calton Road (formerly North Back of Canongate) in the north, accessed via a round-arched pend under the tower of the Canongate Tolbooth. This modern housing consists of sections of stone and cream-coloured harling with large glazed areas at corners and upper floors. A variety of roof profiles is incorporated into the design. Some of the boundary walls of the gasworks which formerly occupied this site have been incorporated into the ground floors of the development. A gasworks was established in the area bounded by New Street and Old Tolbooth Wynd between 1817 and 1821 -Kirkwood's map of 1817 shows the land as 'The Property of Alex. Ramsay Esq' with the Magdalene Asylum in this eastern portion. However by Kirkwood's map of 1821, there is a gasworks in the western half of the site. The works expanded hugely from 1821 to 1852 (Ordnance Survey 1:1056 map of 1852) and again by 1877 when a large coal shed filled the northern section of Old Tolbooth Wynd (OS 1:1056 map). During the 20th century, the area became a bus depot and car park before being unused and earmarked for development as part of the Caltongate scheme (2014).

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1427892

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap