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War Memorial, George Heriot's School, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh

A Category B Listed Building in Edinburgh, Edinburgh

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Coordinates

Latitude: 55.9459 / 55°56'45"N

Longitude: -3.1931 / 3°11'35"W

OS Eastings: 325584

OS Northings: 673184

OS Grid: NT255731

Mapcode National: GBR 8NJ.Q1

Mapcode Global: WH6SL.XTN5

Plus Code: 9C7RWRW4+9Q

Entry Name: War Memorial, George Heriot's School, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh

Listing Name: Lauriston Place, George Heriot's School Gatehouse, Terraces, War Memorial, Boundary Walls, Railings and Gates

Listing Date: 25 July 1966

Category: B

Source: Historic Scotland

Source ID: 395274

Historic Scotland Designation Reference: LB47885

Building Class: Cultural

Also known as: Edinburgh, Lauriston Place, George Heriot's School, War Memorial

ID on this website: 200395274

Location: Edinburgh

County: Edinburgh

Town: Edinburgh

Electoral Ward: City Centre

Traditional County: Midlothian

Tagged with: War memorial

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Description

GATEHOUSE: William Playfair, 1828. Rectangular-plan embattled, bartizaned gatehouse with round-arched rib-vaulted entrance and flanking single storey lodges. Coursed ashlar with polished ashlar dressings. Base course; moulded band at impost level; voussoirs decorated with roses and mullets; enriched key console; buckle quoins. Timber panelled doors in corniced moulded surrounds with strapwork pediments from entrance tunnel to lodges, flanked by small aedicular windows. Parapets with loopholes and pedimented decorative brackets with gargoyles; aedicular windows (niches to N) with strapwork pediments to N, S E and W elevations of lodges.

TERRACES: balustered terraces surrounding main building, carriage entrance and steps at N, NE, NW, SE and SW (see Notes).

WAR MEMORIAL: James B Dunn, 1922. Stone pelican on square base atop octagonal column on octagonal base with carved arms and inscriptions alternating with copper panels bearing names of fallen of 1st World War. Additions and repairs (Reid and Forbes, 1949): to rear of balustraded platform, ashlar wall with inset copper panels bearing names of 2nd World War dead.

BOUNDARY WALL, RAILINGS AND GATES: low coursed ashlar boundary wall with rounded ashlar coping and tall stone obelisks at intervals. Spear-headed cast-iron railings; tall decorative cast-iron gates to entrance tunnel. Tall ashlar-coped rubble wall to E (boundary with Greyfriars churchyard); coping swept down to tall corniced obelisk-topped ashlar gatepiers; decorative wrought-iron 2-leaf gates with lamp and Heriot crest.

Statement of Interest

The A Group comprises the main building, the Examination Hall, the Chemistry and Technology Blocks, the Preparatory Department, the Science Block and the gatehouse, terraces, war memorial, boundary walls, railings and gates. The school was originally intended to be viewed from the N, and entered from the Grassmarket, the building having its back to the Flodden Wall. However, as the area to the N became built up, and the city expanded, the entrance was moved to Lauriston Place. Playfair's additions were intended to have the effect of turning the building round, lending dignity and importance to the new entrance. The W, S and E elevations of the main building were faced with Craigleith stone by Alexander Black in 1833. The school was built on a terraced platform, and surrounded by walled parterres. Playfair also added the balustered parapets, carriage entrance and steps. In the grounds there is also an ornamental stone from the former Heriot foundation school in Chambers Street (1846).

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