Description

Probably John Chesser, circa 1878. 2-storey, irregular-plan Jacobean villa with service wing and extensive later additions to S and W. Squared and snecked sandstone with polished ashlar dressings, Base and string courses; long and short quoins; raised window surrounds; chamfered reveals; scrolled crow-stepped gable to entrance bay; tall ridge and gablehead stacks.

N (ENTRANCE) elevation: 5-bay with low service wing recessed to outer right; advanced central entrance bay; architraved and keystoned round-arched doorpiece with stop-fluted banded pilasters and carved consoles supporting cornice and 2 coped dies; 2-leaf panelled door; plate glass fanlight; tripartite window at 1st floor with hoodmould and square blank tablet above; further blank tablet set in gablehead; single window at ground floor in return to W. Advanced tripartite window flanking to left at ground floor, surmounted by cornice and crenellations; 2 single windows above, breaking eaves in pedimented and shaped dormerheads. 2 single windows flanking entrance to right at ground floor; 2 single windows at 1st floor breaking eaves in pedimented and shaped dormerheads.

E ELEVATION: advanced tripartite window to outer left at ground floor, surmounted by cornice and crenellations; 2 single windows above, breaking eaves in pedimented and shaped dormerheads. 3-light bow window surmounted by cornice and crenellations at ground floor to outer right; bipartite window above; blank tablet in gablehead.

S ELEVATION: 3-bay with service wing to outer left; Secondary entrance and single window at ground floor of central bay; tripartite stair window above; outer bays mirrored, with 3-light bow windows surmounted by cornices and crenellations at ground, bipartite windows at 1st floor, and blank tablets in gableheads. Pedimented dormer breaking eaves to service wing. Large 2-storey pebbledashed addition to S.

SERVICE WING: 2-storey, 2-bay service wing to N with 2 single windows at ground floor to outer left, and bipartite pedimented dormer breaking eaves; 2 single windows in advanced gabled bay to outer right. Large single storey brick extension with bull-faced facade attached to W.

Plate glass sash and case windows. Grey slate gabled roof; lead flashing; moulded eaves guttering; tall corniced ridge and corbelled gablehead stacks (SW stack truncated); circular moulded cans; some stone finials intact; brackedted skewputts; original rainwater goods, including hopper s and pipe brackets.

INTERIOR: elaborate plaster mouldings throughout; encaustic tiled vestibule; tripartite vestibule door; cast-iron balustrade and oak handrail; original fireplaces with tiled grate surrounds depicting scenes from Scott's novels.

BOUNDARY WALLS: high coped rubble boundary wall to Grange Terrace and Blackford Avenue; 2 pairs of ashlar gatepiers with chamfered angles, cornices, and coping to Grange Terrace.

Statement of Interest

The detailing of the doorpiece, bow windows, and dormerheads suggest John Chesser (see separate listing of Chesser's printing works of 1883 for R & R Clark at 20 Brandon Street, Edinburgh). South Park has been the home of the British Geological Survey since 1928.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17798702

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

• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas