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Edinburgh, Leith, 85, 86, 87 Giles Street, Black Vaults

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Vault (16th Century), Warehouse (17th Century)

Site Name Edinburgh, Leith, 85, 86, 87 Giles Street, Black Vaults

Classification Vault (16th Century), Warehouse (17th Century)

Alternative Name(s) 2, 4 Giles Street; Henderson Gardens; J G Thomson And Co Ltd; Vintners Rooms

Canmore ID 52014

Site Number NT27NE 85

NGR NT 26927 76263

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/52014

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Bluesky International Limited 2025. Public Sector Viewing Terms

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Digital Images

Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults. View of building from West, with 'J.G.Thomson & Co, 1709, The Vaults Leith' in large letters on the wall.
Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults. View of building from West, with 'J.G.Thomson & Co, 1709, The Vaults Leith' in large letters on the wall.Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, interior. View of a specimen vaulted chamber.View from NW showing WSW front and NW corner of nos 88 - 89 with part of SW front of no 87 in left foregroundOblique aerial view of the Black Vaults Warehouse and Cable Wynd House, looking ESE.Oblique aerial view of the Black Vaults Warehouse and Cable Wynd House, looking NE.Oblique aerial view centred on the excavation with the warehouses and offices adjacent, taken from the NW.Edinburgh, Leith, 85, 86, 87 Giles Street, Black Vaults, NT27NE 85, Ordnance Survey index card, RectoEdinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, interior. View of first floor South room, known as The Society Room, from North-West.Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults. View of the courtyard with a group of men in aprons and holding coopers equipment and holding horses. Insc: '1885'.View from W showing NW and SW fronts of office blockOblique aerial view centred on the excavation with the warehouses and offices adjacent, taken from the W.Oblique aerial view centred on the excavation with the warehouses and offices adjacent, taken from the NE.Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, interior. View of the East-West passageway.Oblique aerial view centred on the excavation with the warehouses and offices adjacent, taken from the NE.Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, interior. View of The Vintner's Room fireplace, of simple stonework, with a very elaborate plaster scene above depicting putti eating grapes beneath trees, framed with a Greek key design and further shells and grapes.Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, interior. View of ceiling in the The Vintners Room, with a foliate design.Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, interior. View of ground floor main store room, with brick built shelves.Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults. General view from North.Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults. View of a group of brewery workers in aprons and flat caps posed in front of large doors.Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, interior. View of The Vintner's Room from South-East. A large room with elaborate plaster ceiling and cornices with a foliate design. Plaster details above the door forming a swag of flowers and shells, a niche with a plaster shell within and a swag above, and a large plaster scene of putti eating grapes above the fireplace.Oblique aerial view centred on the excavation of the Black Vaults, Edinburgh, with the warehouses and offices adjacent, taken from the SW.Digital copy of Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, South Elevation. Insc: 'Existing South Elevation, The Vaults'.Digital copy of Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, Cross section plan. Insc: 'Section survey, The Vaults'.View of Porters' Stone, on wall of The Vaults, Henderson Street.Oblique aerial view centred on the excavation with the warehouses and offices adjacent, taken from the SW.Oblique aerial view centred on the excavation with the warehouses and offices adjacent, taken from the SE.Oblique aerial view centred on the excavation with the warehouses and offices adjacent, taken from the NW.Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, interior. View of the central niche in the West wall of The Vintner's Room. The niche having a plasterwork shell within and a swag above.Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults. View of building from North-West, with 'J.G.Thomson & Co, 1709, The Vaults Leith' in large letters on the wall.View from S showing SW front of office blockDigtial copy of Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, North Elevation. Insc: 'Existing North Elevation, The Vaults'.Edinburgh, Leith, 85, 86, 87 Giles Street, Black Vaults, NT27NE 85, Ordnance Survey index card, RectoEdinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, interior. View of The Vintner's Room fireplace, of simple stonework, with a very elaborate plaster scene above depicting putti eating grapes beneath trees, framed with a Greek key design and further shells and grapes.Ground floor survey plan. Digital copy of Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, Plan of the third floor. Insc: 'Third floor plan survey, The Vaults'.Digital copy of Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, Plan of the Basement floor. Insc: 'Basement survey, The Vaults'.Digital copy of Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, East and West Elevations. Insc: 'Existing East and West Elevations, The Vaults'.Oblique aerial view centred on the excavation with the warehouses and offices adjacent, taken from the ENE.Oblique aerial view centred on the excavation with the warehouses and offices adjacent, taken from the N.Oblique aerial view centred on the excavation of the Black Vaults, Edinburgh, with the warehouses and offices adjacent, taken from the SW.Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, interior. View of the first floor, West central room, The Director's Office, a large room with two windows, black fire surround, built in sink cabinet, and a large desk.Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults. View of the sink in The Director's Office, a cupboard with a pediment, shelves for glasses and doors that conceal the marble sink when not in use.Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, interior. View of a specimen segmental archway in the basement, with two barrels.Digital copy of Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, Plan of the first floor. Insc: 'First floor plan survey, The Vaults'.Digital copy of Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, The Black Vaults, Plan of the second floor. Insc: 'Second floor survey, The Vaults'.Oblique aerial view of the Black Vaults Warehouse and Cable Wynd House, looking NNE.Edinburgh, 87 Giles Street, 'The Black Vaults', interior. View of the second floor, a low long room with central square pillars and half the floorboards pulled up.

Administrative Areas

  • Council Edinburgh, City Of
  • Parish Edinburgh (Edinburgh, City Of)
  • Former Region Lothian
  • Former District City Of Edinburgh
  • Former County Midlothian

Architecture Notes

NT27NE 85.00 26927 76263

NT27NE 85.01 26902 76256 Boundary Walls and Gate-piers

Leith, 'The Vaults' - precise identity unclear, but possibly 'The Black Vaults'.

Sources: Dean of Guild. Bundle 1813. January - June. 8.4.1813

Pet. John Thomson, merchant in Leith.

The Vaults, Leith - backs on to St GIles Street.

Plan, elevation and section of counting house.

Unsigned.

Further Details

Activities

Publication Account (1951)

RCAHMS County Inventory: The City of Edinburgh

NT27NE 85.00 26927 76263

At the W end of Giles Street is an oblong rubble-built block once known as the 'Blak-Volts' of the Logans of Coatfield and today as the 'Vouts'. In the 17th century it stood 3 storeys above ground but was subsequently raised in height. The vaults themselves are below the ground and comprise an extensive cellarage excavated in the natural sand. A central vaulted passage traverses the block, which is about 43ft wide, and on either side of this open two vaulted cellars each about 70ft long. This undercroft seems to have been in existence in 1587 and is therefore earlier than the superstructure, which dates from 1682. The building looks out on a courtyard in which there is a draw-well; a bottling shed on the opposite side of the courtyard has a skew-put dated 1689.

RCAHMS 1951.

Further Details

Project (1997)

The Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (http://www.pmsa.org.uk/) set up a National Recording Project in 1997 with the aim of making a survey of public monuments and sculpture in Britain ranging from medieval monuments to the most contemporary works. Information from the Edinburgh project was added to the RCAHMS database in October 2010 and again in 2012.

The PMSA (Public Monuments and Sculpture Association) Edinburgh Sculpture Project has been supported by Eastern Photocolour, Edinburgh College of Art, the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, Historic Scotland, the Hope Scott Trust, The Old Edinburgh Club, the Pilgrim Trust, the RCAHMS, and the Scottish Archive Network.

Further Details

Field Visit (13 May 2002)

Public Monuments and Sculpture Association: Edinburgh

Rectangular stone carved with two porters (top left) carrying a barrel on a pole resting on their shoulders; a man in a ship with a lee-board and the Scottish ensign (bottom left); a crane (top right), the machinery of which consists of a broad wheel. The wheel is 'made to revolve like the wire cylinder of a squirrel's cage, by a poor labourer who occupies the quadruped's place, and clambers up, Sisyphus-like, in his endless treadmill.' (1). At the bottom right of the stone is a building, 'resembling a mill or two-storeyed granary' (3), on the roof of which the crane stands. The crane is hoisting a large barrel.

The original stone or tablet of the Association of Porters was sited near the top of the Tolbooth Wynd over the archway leading into a courtyard. By 1901 it was placed over the entrance to the Old Sugar House Close, Tolbooth Wynd.

The method of carrying an object on a pole resting on the shoulders of two men was known as a stang or sting lift. (2)

Inspected By : I.C. Grant

Inscriptions : At the top of the stone: 1678

Below the date: GR

On metal plaque below Porters' Stone: PORTERS' STONE / COPY OF A 17TH C. TRADE STONE / ORIGINALLY IN TOLBOOTH WYND

Signatures : None

Design period : 1678

Information from Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (PMSA Work Ref : EDIN0819)

Further Details

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