History in Structure

32 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh

A Category B Listed Building in Edinburgh, Edinburgh

More Photos »
Approximate Location Map
Large Map »

Coordinates

Latitude: 55.9505 / 55°57'1"N

Longitude: -3.1894 / 3°11'21"W

OS Eastings: 325820

OS Northings: 673687

OS Grid: NT258736

Mapcode National: GBR 8PG.FD

Mapcode Global: WH6SL.ZPDN

Plus Code: 9C7RXR26+56

Entry Name: 32 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh

Listing Name: 32 Cockburn Street

Listing Date: 12 December 1974

Category: B

Source: Historic Scotland

Source ID: 370856

Historic Scotland Designation Reference: LB30089

Building Class: Cultural

Also known as: Edinburgh, 32 Cockburn Street

ID on this website: 200370856

Location: Edinburgh

County: Edinburgh

Town: Edinburgh

Electoral Ward: City Centre

Traditional County: Midlothian

Tagged with: Shop Tenement

Find accommodation in
Edinburgh

Description

Peddie and Kinnear, Architects, 1859-61. 3-storey 3-bay Baronial building with machicolated parapet and angle round to Anchor Close. Squared and snecked lightly stugged sandstone with polished dressings. Moulded string course between ground and 1st floors, stepped to elevation to left. Stop-chamfered openings. 2-leaf timber-panelled storm door to centre. Segmental-arched windows to 1st floor.

4-pane glazing to timber sash and case windows.

Statement of Interest

A Group comprises 1-63 (Odd Nos) and 2-6 and 18-56 (Even Nos) Cockburn Street. Working drawings show that No 32 was originally designed to be 2 storeys in height. It was designed for a wine-merchant named Rutherford. Known briefly as Lord Cockburn Street, Cockburn Street was named after the doyen of conservationists, Lord Cockburn, who died in 1854. It was built by the High Street and Railway Station Access Company, under the Railway Station Acts of 1853 and 1860, to provide access to Waverley Station from the High Street. The serpentine curve of the street (anticipated in Thomas Hamilton's Victoria Street) gives a gradient of not more than 1:14; James Peddie and Henry J Wylie were the engineers. One of the aims of the design was to conceal the diagonal line of the street from Princes Street. A watercolour perspective drawing of the street by John Laing, published in THE BUILDER of 1860, shows how this was to be achieved. Stylistically, the intention was 'to preserve as far as possible the architectural style and antique character of the locality.' Peddie and Kinnear's Cockburn Street designs are an innovative adaptation (much imitated later) of the Scots Baronial style, previously used by Burn and Bryce in country houses, to the urban situation, with shops and tenements enlivened by crowstepped gables, corbelling and turrets.

External Links

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

Other nearby listed buildings

BritishListedBuildings.co.uk is an independent online resource and is not associated with any government department. All government data published here is used under licence. Please do not contact BritishListedBuildings.co.uk for any queries related to any individual listed building, planning permission related to listed buildings or the listing process itself.

British Listed Buildings is a Good Stuff website.