Interior-general view of Great Hall of Craig House

Description Interior-general view of Great Hall of Craig House

Date 1895

Collection Records of Bedford Lemere and Company, photographers, London, England

Catalogue Number SC 730034

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of BL 13243

Scope and Content Great Hall, Craighouse Mental Asylum, Craighouse Road, Edinburgh, looking south (latterly the Royal Edinburgh Hospital and presently part of Napier University) Craighouse Mental Asylum, a huge chateau designed by the architect, Sydney Mitchell, was built in 1889-94 as new hospital premises for the Royal Edinburgh Asylum. The Great Hall, a general amusement room for patients, was photographed in 1895 by the architectural photographer, Harry Bedford Lemere. This huge Baronial-style hall has walls lined with a deep oak-panelled dado above which oak Corinthian pilasters rise to a magnificent barrel-vaulted ceiling. The room is lit by semicircular clerestory windows, and a musicians' gallery runs across the south wall (centre). Large canopied chimneypieces face each other across the room which is furnished in the style of a grand country house. The asylum was intended for fee-paying patients, many of whom were accustomed to living in a grand style. The Great Hall was designed for relaxation and recreation, and orchestral recitals and musical evenings were a regular feature. The patients themselves often staged plays and theatrical events. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/730034

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap