Description

Late 18th century. 3-storey, 3-bay Classical town house with architraved doorway with fluted frieze and cornice. Timber panelled door with glazed fanlight above. Roughly squared and snecked rubble with raised margins. Ashlar quoins.

Predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case windows. Grey Scottish Slate. Piended roof with tall and narrow end stack to E. Cast iron rainwater goods. Clay cans.

Statement of Interest

This late 18th century town house on the E side of Reid's Court (95 Canongate) is a good example of its type making early use of Classical proportions and simple, refined detailing. It contributes significantly to this part of the Canongate streetscape adding interest and group value to Reid's Court and to the Canongate Manse. The buildings was altered externally and internally by internationally acclaimed Scottish architect, Sir Basil Spence as part of his Canongate housing development (see separate listing) which adjoins Russell House, fronting the Canongate.

The historic and architectural value of Edinburgh's Canongate area as a whole cannot be overstated. Embodying a spirit of permanence while constantly evolving, its buildings reflect nearly 1000 years of political, religious and civic development in Scotland. The Canons of Holyrood Abbey were given leave by King David I to found the burgh of Canongate in 1140. Either side of the street (a volcanic ridge) was divided into long, narrow strips of land or 'tofts. By the end of the 15th century all the tofts were occupied, some subdivided into 'forelands' and 'backlands' under different ownership. Fuedal superiority over Canongate ceased after 1560. The following century was a period of wide-scale rebuilding and it was during this time that most of the areas' mansions and fine townhouses were constructed, usually towards the back of the tofts, away from the squalor of the main street. The 17th century also saw the amalgamation of the narrow plots and their redevelopment as courtyards surrounded by tenements. The burgh was formally incorporated into the City in 1856. Throughout the 19th Century the Canongate's prosperity declined as large sections of the nobility and middle classes moved out of the area in favour of the grandeur and improved facilities of Edinburgh's New Town, a short distance to the North. The Improvement Act of 1867 made efforts to address this, responding early on with large-scale slum clearance and redevelopment of entire street frontages. A further Improvement Act (1893) was in part a reaction to this 'maximum intervention', responding with a programme of relatively small-scale changes within the existing street pattern. This latter approach was more consistent with Patrick Geddes' concept of 'conservative surgery'. Geddes was a renowned intellectual who lived in the Old Town and was a pioneer of the modern conservation movement in Scotland which gathered momentum throughout the 20th century. Extensive rebuilding and infilling of sections of the Canongate's many tenements took place, most notably by city architects, E J McRae and Robert Hurd (mid 20th century) with some early frontages retained and others rebuilt in replica.

List description updated at resurvey (2008).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17795624

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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