Edinburgh, Princes Street, General Register House, Sasine Office

142. St. James' Square.

This square was traditionally a Jacobite nest, and is said to have been called after the Chevalier St. George, son of James VII and II, who died in 1766; but the name is more probably that of Captain James Ferguson, R.N., brother of the proprietor. It is situated on the eminence formerly known as Moultrie's Hill, on the E. of the area dealt with in Craig's plan for the New Town, from which it was separated by the property of Sir Laurence Dundas. The site had been acquired in 1762 by Walter Ferguson, writer in Edinburgh, who decided in 1773 to build a square (1) upon his ground and commissioned Craig to plan it. Ferguson's scheme was opposed by the Superiors,. the Governors of Heriot's Hospital, who took him into court, but he won his case. Taking advantage of the decision, Robert Gray, a neighbouring vassal, thereupon built the S. side of South St. James' Street, which became the E. outlet from the proposed square. While the foundation stone of the first building was being laid a salute was fired from the Castle to celebrate the "victory" of Bunker Hill, fought in June 1775; and the new street, which was a steep incline, thereafter became popularly known as "Bunker's Hill " and it is thus identified on Ainslie's map. This map indicates that three sides of the new square had been built by 1780, the year of publication, and the legend "St. James Square 1779" may be seen carved on Number 5,* the house at the S.E. corner of the square, adjoining the W. end of South St. James' Street: It was not until 1784, however, that the Superiors granted a feu-charter of this property, to a certain Thomas Robertson. Robertson's building, now incorporated with Number 4 was originally a self-contained house of a basement, three main storeys and an attic. The front is of droved ashlar and has a panelled pilaster at each end; the central chimney-stalk is modern. The windows of the street floor and of the second floor have back-set margins, while the first-floor windows have moulded architraves and cornices. The roof is a mansard.

The other buildings on this side of the square, Numbers 1-4, have plainer fronts and form a single block in which Numbers 1 and 2 together correspond to Number 4, so that Number 3 is central. With the exception of the last, which has an extra storey, these buildings have three main storeys and mansard roofs.

The five buildings on the W. side of the square have been converted into an annexe of the Register House. The buildings on the N. side of the square are maindoor houses and flats, most of them having a rounded projection at the back. They have four storeys, an attic and a basement. The fronts are plain, the masonry in most cases being either droved or bush-hammered. Two fronts are channel-jointed on the street floor, while two others have dressed quoins. The feu-charters of these properties were granted in 1783 and 1784.

The E. side of the square is the latest part and consists of a single block, Numbers 6-15, of maindoor houses and flats. The front is of droved ashlar. The central bay, in which there is a central staircase, has a basement and four main storeys while the side bays have a storey less; but here, again, the roofs are mansards. This block was built by Robert Wemyss, whose feu-charter was granted in 1786. It is shown in being on Arnot's map of 1787 (2).

RCAHMS 1951, visited c.1941

(1) O.E.C., ii, p. 170. (2) History, p. 233.

The architect was probably Thomas Hill, cf. P.S.A.S., xii (1876-8), p. 184

AOC Archaeology Group was commissioned by Edinburgh St James Car Park Operating Co Ltd to undertake an historic building survey of the former student accommodation block known as James Craig Court, James Craig Walk, Edinburgh. The works were undertaken in advance of development as part of the planning consent on the renovation of the former late 18th century tenement building. The original tenement block was constructed from 1775 and built in three phases. Including five entrances to a number of tenements, the original building had four floor levels and a basement level with scale-and-platt stairs to each property. In the 1850s, one of the properties was converted to a hotel and another into a Mission Hall in the later 19th century. Between 1902 - 1904, the tenement block was wholly converted for offices for the National Archives with a new Sasine Office also built onto the south-east elevation. New large casement windows were also inserted into the north-west block replacing the original sash windows. The original roof was removed to the rest of the building and a new row of third floor windows and a flat roof installed. The St James Centre development in the 1970s effectively removed and destroyed the character of the original St James Square, to which Nos 27 - 31 formed the south-west side. In 2002, the building was again completely renovated into student accommodation, which caused the replacement of a staircase, the insertion of internal partitions and installation of modern furnishings. A structural watching brief is still required on the building during and after the soft strip to fully identify anything relevant to the history and development of the building, including the positions of former fireplaces, openings and stairs. The results of the structural watching brief will then be incorporated into this report to create a final historic building recording report in the structure.

Information from Diana Sproat (AOC Archaeology Group) May 2018. OASIS ID: aocarcha1-317920