Edinburgh, 300 Lawnmarket, Buchanan's Court, General
General View
Site Name Edinburgh, 300 Lawnmarket, Buchanan's Court, General
Classification General View
Alternative Name(s) Buchanan's Close; Brodie's Close
Canmore ID 112243
Site Number NT27SE 660
NGR NT 25593 73553
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/112243
- Council Edinburgh, City Of
- Parish Edinburgh (Edinburgh, City Of)
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District City Of Edinburgh
- Former County Midlothian
Demolished. Site of Lothian Regional Council headquarters.
Buchanan's or Buchan's Court (or Close) is listed on Ainslie 1781 and 1804 as Buchanan's Close and as Buchan's Close on Kincaid 1784, and the form Court appears in "P.O. Directory" 1826. The name was no doubt connected with Buchanan's Land, burned down in 1771, itself a replacement of the timber-built tenement of the abbot of Cambuskenneth burned down in 1725. Edgar 1742 lists the close as Walter Willies's Close, and Kirkwood 1817 notes it as "formerly Walter Willis's" but any link with a Wills or Willis remains to be traced. A third name was Hunter's Close, likewise obscure, although it may be noted that Williamson's Directory 1780 lists a James Hunter, physician, as resident in nearby Old Bank Close.
(from Stuart Harris, "Place Names of Edinburgh", 1996, page 129)
Publication Account (1951)
BUCHANAN'S COURT, 300 LAWNMARKET.
In this court the only features of interest are the two storeyed 18th-century building on the E. side, now a factory, and the newel staircase on the W. side, by which the land at the corner of the Lawnmarket and Melbourne Place was entered. The moulded stair-entrance is of the 17th-century, but the building that it served has been reconstructed.
RCAHMS 1951
