Standing Building Recording

Date 29 June 2016

Event ID 1015693

Category Recording

Type Standing Building Recording

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1015693

Edinburgh Meeting House has high heritage significance as a good example of late nineteenth century ecclesiastical and domestic architecture on Victoria Street in the Old Town, but its association with Quakers is relatively recent. The two buildings occupied by the meeting house are an important part of the Edinburgh street scene and retain some original internal features. Evidential value: The site probably has low archaeological potential, as this area was substantially redeveloped in the second half of the nineteenth century, but the building may have some archaeological potential in relation to physical evidence for the original uses. Historical value: The meeting house has high historical value as part of the planned rebuilding of Victoria Street in the 1860s, and for the original uses of the two elements; the Original Secessionist Church and the tenement block on Upper Bow. The association with Friends dates from the late 1980s. Aesthetic value: The front meeting house building has high architectural value as a former church designed in Italian revival style, and part of Victoria Terrace. The tenement block on Upper Bow is a typical example of a Victorian tenement in the city. Both buildings are little altered externally, but their interiors are altered, due to changes made in the late twentieth century. Communal value: The meeting house has high communal value as the latest in a sequence of Quaker meeting houses in Edinburgh. It is well-used by the wider community and in August is used as Venue 40 for the Edinburgh Festival.