Description

Circa 1825 incorporating earlier fabric (see Notes). Substantial 5-storey, 12-bay tenement with Classical detailing. Later shopfronts to ground. Coursed ashlar (painted at 1st floor). Raised cills. Moulded string course between 1st and 2nd floors; panelled cill aprons to 2nd floor; cill course at 3rd floor; belt course at eaves. Blind openings to 8th bay at 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors. Wide segmental-arched pend to centre left leading to Old Assembly Close. Round-arched doorway with bracketed cornice to centre right.

Predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case windows. Scottish slate. Particularly broad, end and ridge stacks. Clay cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

Statement of Interest

No 168-184 High Street is a large, well-proportioned tenement and an important integral part of the architectural character of the High Street. It was reconstructed after a fire destroyed the South side of the High Street between The Tron Kirk and Parliament House in 1824. The simple treatment provides an appropriate foil to the more elaborate buildings on the High Street, adding much to the Street's distinctive character. The building is part of a reconstructed planned run of tenements between No 126 and No 184 High Street.

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 revised as part of the Edinburgh Holyrood Ward resurvey (2007/08).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17809301

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

• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)