Description

T P Marwick (adapting a design by David Cousin and John Lessels - see Notes) 1887. 4-storey and attic, 3-bay Scots Baronial tenement with shops to ground. Polished ashlar to 1st floor; squared and snecked, stugged sandstone with polished dressings above. Pair of shouldered tripartite windows at 1st floor with rope-moulded crest to centre. Deep moulded string course between 1st and 2nd floors. Attic corbel table with central crow-stepped wallhead gable with apex stack above; flanked by crow-stepped dormer heads. Painted shop fronts.

4-pane glazing to timber sash and case windows. Scottish slate. Broad harled axial stacks. Clay cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

Statement of Interest

No 44-46 High Street is a good example of early City Improvement Act construction and integrated tenement design. The building is part of a planned run of buildings designed by David Cousin and John Lessels continuing West to the corner and down Blackfriars Street. The use of the Scots Baronial style fits well into the surrounding streetscape and mirrors 18th century tenement design in the Old Town.

Under the 1867 Improvement Act, Cousin, one of the most accomplished architects of his generation, planned St Mary Street, Blackfriars Street, Jeffrey Street and Chambers Street, the architecture of which 'reflects his transition from pure Italian Renaissance to a mid Victorian freestyle also evident in his later bank-houses' (David Walker - Dictionary of Scottish Architects). The tenement blocks running from No 44 to 60 High Street were designed by John Lessels with David Cousin in 1870 but not carried out until 18 years later.

The High Street is located at the heart of the Old Town and has World Heritage Site status. Historically the central focus of public, civic and commercial life within the city, the High Street contains many of Edinburgh's most distinguished buildings including St Giles Kirk and Parliament Hall (see separate listings). Its special architectural and historic interest as one of Edinburgh's primary thoroughfares is unparalleled.

List description updated at resurvey (2007/08).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17809226

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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  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
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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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  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
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  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair